The Airlines Association of Southern Africa (AASA) is calling for a continent-wide plan to revitalise Africa’s aviation sector through a new multi-pronged strategy. The plan focuses on harmonising regulations, opening markets to competition, stabilising supply chains, strengthening financial governance, and improving critical aviation infrastructure and related services.
“For too long, African aviation has been underestimated – especially by ourselves,” said AASA CEO Aaron Munetsi during the AASA 55th Annual General Assembly in Lusaka, Zambia, last week. “Africa is home to 1.4-billion people, the world’s youngest population and a growing middle class but with just 2.2% of global air transport market share, we are still idling on the runway.”
He said airlines, airports, air navigation services, regulators and equipment suppliers all had a part to play in rewriting Africa’s aviation negative narrative and demonstrating that African carriers can hold their own globally.
Munetsi presented a multi-pronged strategy, aiming to boost Africa’s air transport sector. It includes:
- Safety and standards: Africa must harmonise oversight and recognise mutual licensing and certification, as the EU did in the 1990s, to support SAATM implementation and improve efficiency.
- Supply chain: The global shortage of aircraft and parts has severely affected African airlines. Manufacturers quote up to six-year delivery lead-times, which requires older, less efficient aircraft to be kept in service for longer. Africa’s carriers face more than $220-million in additional supply chain-related costs this year alone.
- Financial sustainability: State-owned airlines must be run with accountability, cost discipline, innovation and partnerships to drive better financial performance.
- Environmental sustainability: Despite Africa’s small 2% share of global aviation emissions, governments should be facilitating investments in locally produced sustainable aviation fuel while their aviation infrastructure services should be improving operational procedures to help airlines reduce fuel burn and carbon emissions.
- People and skills: Empowering Africa’s youth, women, and innovators is key and requires investments in training, mentorship and inclusion.
“Aviation is not a luxury – it is an economic lifeline,” said Mr Munetsi. “If governments genuinely want to democratise air transport they should remove excessive statutory charges and taxes that have driven up costs, made ticket prices higher and pushed air transport beyond the reach of most Africans. Economically restricting access to air transport in this way undermines countries’ competitiveness.”
Munetsi said there were concerns about operational inefficiencies and safety failures in SA. He pointed to the ongoing suspension of over 200 instrument flight procedures by Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS), which disrupts airline operations and cost airlines millions of dollars in additional fuel, engine wear and maintenance, crew flight duty, flight operations support, customer compensation and reputational damage.
AASA says there were concerns that the slow pace of addressing airspace management failures indicates the full extent of the economic impact is not being recognised.
“The failure to design, manage and maintain airspace cannot be dismissed as an ‘inconvenience’.It needs to be seen for what it is; an economic disaster which demands a commensurate emergency disaster response. The lack of urgency is reflected in the glacial pace at which approval renewals were being processed.”
AASA called on governments to invest in digital border and customs systems and to relax restrictive visa regimes that deter travel.
It wants to see Mozambique and other governments with foreign reserves release airlines’ blocked funds and let local airlines access foreign currency to purchase aircraft spare parts and cover other dollar-priced costs.
“African aviation’s success depends on collaboration and shared responsibility. It’s time to stop talking and start improving. Only by working together can we ensure Africa’s aviation sector finally takes off and becomes far more than a two-percent player in the global market.”