Deanw
18th May 2005, 16:39
Mbeki calls for action on aviation in Africa
Sun City
May 18
Africa's aviation industry is fraught by an abysmal safety record and poor services, South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Wednesday, calling for a "comprehensive programme of action" to help it take off.
Speaking at a three-day meeting of African transport ministers discussing ways to improve aviation in the continent, Mbeki said: "It is self-evident that we need a comprehensive programme of action. The parlous state of affairs of the aviation industry leaves a lot to be desired," Mbeki told the meeting, held at the casino resort of Sun City, some 185km northwest of Johannesburg.
"It is alarming that, although the continent accounts for about three percent of total world aircraft departures, Africa witnesses 27 percent of all fatal accidents on its soil," Mbeki said. "Airlines are often unreliable with frequent cancellations, which are not only inconvenient but also unproductive for our economic growth," he said.
Mbeki said he was worried about airline safety standards across Africa, saying an analysis of global aviation statistics had shown that although 2004 was an "extremely safe year, there is reason for concern in Africa".
Ministers from 24 African countries are meeting in Sun City to find ways of implementing a decision taken in Ivory Coast's political capital Yamoussoukro in 1999 to deregulate airline markets on the continent and to improve appalling safety standards.
In 2003, the last year for which comprehensive statistics are available, African airspace accounted for 28 percent of fatal aviation accidents worldwide, the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) said in February this year.
Between 1994 and 2003, Africa recorded 210 aviation accidents, AFRAA said.
Almost 60 percent of those took place in four nations, three of which - Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Angola and Sudan - were wracked by war during most of that period, it said.
AFRAA has blamed the high number of accidents in those countries on the use of illegally acquired and often old, unsafe aircraft.
In those and other states, poorly paid pilots, shortages of resources and mechanics as well as a lack of navigation equipment have contributed to the problem as have visibility problems, particularly during night flights which are favoured by cargo carriers, it said.
The AFRAA report however stressed that the vast majority of mishaps did not involve scheduled passenger flights and maintained that commercial air service, particularly on international routes, was safe.
Instead, it blamed much of the problem on the vagaries of unscheduled flights, poor maintenance, ageing charter airline fleets, untrained crews and the illegal movement of aircraft in war-torn countries.
Mbeki meanwhile said air travel had become a vital form of transport in Africa.
"It is central to our ability to open up areas bedevilled by former conflict, to integrating forest areas or isolated rural regions with mainstream economic hubs, or even allowing our people to travel to and from their home areas," said Mbeki.
Bernard Zomba, the African Union's commissioner for infrastructure and energy, said the aim of the conference was to speed up the Yamoussoukro agreement and find a framework for cooperation between African airlines as well as look at airline safety and security.
"The current state of air transport has, for some years now, been marked by a crisis that is becoming more acute with increasing globalisation. Africa is lagging behind in the liberalisation of the air transport sector," Zomba said.
Sun City
May 18
Africa's aviation industry is fraught by an abysmal safety record and poor services, South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Wednesday, calling for a "comprehensive programme of action" to help it take off.
Speaking at a three-day meeting of African transport ministers discussing ways to improve aviation in the continent, Mbeki said: "It is self-evident that we need a comprehensive programme of action. The parlous state of affairs of the aviation industry leaves a lot to be desired," Mbeki told the meeting, held at the casino resort of Sun City, some 185km northwest of Johannesburg.
"It is alarming that, although the continent accounts for about three percent of total world aircraft departures, Africa witnesses 27 percent of all fatal accidents on its soil," Mbeki said. "Airlines are often unreliable with frequent cancellations, which are not only inconvenient but also unproductive for our economic growth," he said.
Mbeki said he was worried about airline safety standards across Africa, saying an analysis of global aviation statistics had shown that although 2004 was an "extremely safe year, there is reason for concern in Africa".
Ministers from 24 African countries are meeting in Sun City to find ways of implementing a decision taken in Ivory Coast's political capital Yamoussoukro in 1999 to deregulate airline markets on the continent and to improve appalling safety standards.
In 2003, the last year for which comprehensive statistics are available, African airspace accounted for 28 percent of fatal aviation accidents worldwide, the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) said in February this year.
Between 1994 and 2003, Africa recorded 210 aviation accidents, AFRAA said.
Almost 60 percent of those took place in four nations, three of which - Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Angola and Sudan - were wracked by war during most of that period, it said.
AFRAA has blamed the high number of accidents in those countries on the use of illegally acquired and often old, unsafe aircraft.
In those and other states, poorly paid pilots, shortages of resources and mechanics as well as a lack of navigation equipment have contributed to the problem as have visibility problems, particularly during night flights which are favoured by cargo carriers, it said.
The AFRAA report however stressed that the vast majority of mishaps did not involve scheduled passenger flights and maintained that commercial air service, particularly on international routes, was safe.
Instead, it blamed much of the problem on the vagaries of unscheduled flights, poor maintenance, ageing charter airline fleets, untrained crews and the illegal movement of aircraft in war-torn countries.
Mbeki meanwhile said air travel had become a vital form of transport in Africa.
"It is central to our ability to open up areas bedevilled by former conflict, to integrating forest areas or isolated rural regions with mainstream economic hubs, or even allowing our people to travel to and from their home areas," said Mbeki.
Bernard Zomba, the African Union's commissioner for infrastructure and energy, said the aim of the conference was to speed up the Yamoussoukro agreement and find a framework for cooperation between African airlines as well as look at airline safety and security.
"The current state of air transport has, for some years now, been marked by a crisis that is becoming more acute with increasing globalisation. Africa is lagging behind in the liberalisation of the air transport sector," Zomba said.