Douglas Racer
12th May 2004, 09:07
'African aviation standards lacking'
The African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC) could not operate properly due to a lack of funds, the president of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Assad Kotaite said. Speaking at the 17th plenary session of AFCAC in Midrand, Kotaite said not all the members of AFCAC paid their dues, resulting in a serious shortage of funds within the Commission.
"AFCAC cannot operate properly if all the member states don't pay their dues," Kotaite said. He said AFCAC had to enforce the regulations and conventions set up by ICAO, but was unable to due to the lack of money. He said AFCAC was in arrears of $1.7 million at ICAO. ICAO also paid the four full-time staff members of AFCAC. "We are their bank. They owe us a lot of money."
Kotaite said that during a recent audit of safety standards of 181 of its 188 member states ICAO found that civil aviation in Africa still did not have the level of safety required by the organisation. "There has been progress in Africa and we are pleased with the progress, but there still are lots of deficiencies." There was a lack of legislation on safety, amongst others, and a lack of training, he said. There were also not enough opportunities for trainees in civil aviation. Most of them were lured away by private enterprises with huge salaries.
Kotaite said ICAO's regulations and conventions on issues like the liberalisation of the airways should be phased in gradually in Africa. "We need to establish fair competition in African states and also make sure that there are opportunities and proper conditio! ns for civil aviation to flourish." During his speech at the opening ceremony of the plenary session, newly appointed transport minister Jeff Radebe said delegates would have to focus on finding solutions for the challenges facing the continent's civil aviation industry. "The first set of challenges arises from the present conditions of civil aviation in Africa itself," Radebe said. "The second set relates to our response as signatories to a host of international conventions that are exercised through membership of associations and as individual countries."
Radebe said the third set of challenges was what was needed to be done to establish and operate sustainable institutions and administer the structures relating to civil aviation. The global environment of insecurity and of economic uncertainty also had an impact on civil aviation in Africa. Many civil airlines in Africa suffered from a lack of financial performance which could be attributed to among other things low traffic volumes on intra-African routes and high insurance costs.
"At the moment it is a sad fact that very often the best route from point A to point B in Africa is via Europe. It is probably as a result of these problems that African travellers are faced with enormous costs to fly within Africa, costs that far too often are much higher than the cost of intercontinental flights." Radebe said there were also serious deficiencies in Air Traffic Control over much of Africa's air space. "Africa cannot be satisfied with the safety record as it stands at the moment." He said the problems were due to navigation and management, as well as ageing or near obsolete equipment on the ground and in the air, poor maintenance and an inability to ensure uniformity in the application of desired safety equipment. Radebe said despite all these problems, and the fact that the global civil aviation industry was only now recovering from the September 11 2001 attacks in the USA, African aviation was set to grow. "Africa is a continent of diverse experiences and uneven development. The challenges are huge. The commitment to resolve them, however, I believe is there... your deliberations during this plenary session come at a critical time as the African Civil Aviation Commission faces some of its most demanding challenges."
The plenary session will continue until Friday.
:confused:
The African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC) could not operate properly due to a lack of funds, the president of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Assad Kotaite said. Speaking at the 17th plenary session of AFCAC in Midrand, Kotaite said not all the members of AFCAC paid their dues, resulting in a serious shortage of funds within the Commission.
"AFCAC cannot operate properly if all the member states don't pay their dues," Kotaite said. He said AFCAC had to enforce the regulations and conventions set up by ICAO, but was unable to due to the lack of money. He said AFCAC was in arrears of $1.7 million at ICAO. ICAO also paid the four full-time staff members of AFCAC. "We are their bank. They owe us a lot of money."
Kotaite said that during a recent audit of safety standards of 181 of its 188 member states ICAO found that civil aviation in Africa still did not have the level of safety required by the organisation. "There has been progress in Africa and we are pleased with the progress, but there still are lots of deficiencies." There was a lack of legislation on safety, amongst others, and a lack of training, he said. There were also not enough opportunities for trainees in civil aviation. Most of them were lured away by private enterprises with huge salaries.
Kotaite said ICAO's regulations and conventions on issues like the liberalisation of the airways should be phased in gradually in Africa. "We need to establish fair competition in African states and also make sure that there are opportunities and proper conditio! ns for civil aviation to flourish." During his speech at the opening ceremony of the plenary session, newly appointed transport minister Jeff Radebe said delegates would have to focus on finding solutions for the challenges facing the continent's civil aviation industry. "The first set of challenges arises from the present conditions of civil aviation in Africa itself," Radebe said. "The second set relates to our response as signatories to a host of international conventions that are exercised through membership of associations and as individual countries."
Radebe said the third set of challenges was what was needed to be done to establish and operate sustainable institutions and administer the structures relating to civil aviation. The global environment of insecurity and of economic uncertainty also had an impact on civil aviation in Africa. Many civil airlines in Africa suffered from a lack of financial performance which could be attributed to among other things low traffic volumes on intra-African routes and high insurance costs.
"At the moment it is a sad fact that very often the best route from point A to point B in Africa is via Europe. It is probably as a result of these problems that African travellers are faced with enormous costs to fly within Africa, costs that far too often are much higher than the cost of intercontinental flights." Radebe said there were also serious deficiencies in Air Traffic Control over much of Africa's air space. "Africa cannot be satisfied with the safety record as it stands at the moment." He said the problems were due to navigation and management, as well as ageing or near obsolete equipment on the ground and in the air, poor maintenance and an inability to ensure uniformity in the application of desired safety equipment. Radebe said despite all these problems, and the fact that the global civil aviation industry was only now recovering from the September 11 2001 attacks in the USA, African aviation was set to grow. "Africa is a continent of diverse experiences and uneven development. The challenges are huge. The commitment to resolve them, however, I believe is there... your deliberations during this plenary session come at a critical time as the African Civil Aviation Commission faces some of its most demanding challenges."
The plenary session will continue until Friday.
:confused: