Gunship
11th Nov 2005, 04:38
THE uncontrolled deregulation of the African aviation market would result in the “invasion of the continent” by European airlines and see the demise of small airlines on the continent, the African Airlines Association (Afraa) said yesterday.
The Nairobi-based association, which represented all airlines in Africa, said governments must exercise caution when opening up their skies to foreign airlines, particularly those from Europe and the Middle East.
The “principle of reciprocity” — under which countries allow equal amounts of flights to and from each other — must be considered when deregulating, Afraa secretary-general Christian Folly-Kossi said.
Folly-Kossi said there were currently no flights operated by African carriers between Côte d’Ivoire’s capital Abidjan and major European centres such as Rome, Paris, Zurich and Madrid, while there were 14 weekly flights to and from Abidjan operated by foreign carriers.
“The continent is likely to be thoroughly invaded by foreign mega carriers. The invasion of the continent will be stimulated by the fact that Africa is the fastest-growing region for air travel after Asia,” said Folly-Kossi.
African countries are struggling to establish a competitive market among themselves, let alone with foreign carriers in the mix. The Yamoussoukro Decision, signed by all African heads of states in 1999, seeks to open up the aviation market on the continent by granting unlimited flight frequencies and traffic rights to African airlines. It has been repeatedly delayed.
Folly-Kossi said foreign airlines also tended to drive the host country’s airlines out of business and then later exit the market as soon as the routes became less profitable.
“Yields remain the highest in Africa compared with other continents and unfortunately, African carriers are weak and pose very little competitive threat to the mega-carriers,” he said.
According to the airline industry watchdog the International Air Transport Association, Africa saw the second-highest passenger growth of 8,5% (after the Middle East’s 8,7%) in August this year from the same month a year ago.
Folly-Kossi said the survival of smaller carriers on the continent depended on their willingness to form competitive regional alliances.
“There are too many small airlines competing for small disjointed markets.
“There is an absolute need for African carriers to consider forming sub-regional alliance groupings so as to build up and consolidate hubs at their main bases,” he said.
The continental airline association will next week hold its annual general assembly at Sun City, where the further deregulation of the African market for African airlines will be discussed.
The deregulation is aimed at making air connections between African states easier for the movement of people and goods and bringing to an end the need for Africans to fly to other African countries via European hubs.
Link (http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A111659)
The Nairobi-based association, which represented all airlines in Africa, said governments must exercise caution when opening up their skies to foreign airlines, particularly those from Europe and the Middle East.
The “principle of reciprocity” — under which countries allow equal amounts of flights to and from each other — must be considered when deregulating, Afraa secretary-general Christian Folly-Kossi said.
Folly-Kossi said there were currently no flights operated by African carriers between Côte d’Ivoire’s capital Abidjan and major European centres such as Rome, Paris, Zurich and Madrid, while there were 14 weekly flights to and from Abidjan operated by foreign carriers.
“The continent is likely to be thoroughly invaded by foreign mega carriers. The invasion of the continent will be stimulated by the fact that Africa is the fastest-growing region for air travel after Asia,” said Folly-Kossi.
African countries are struggling to establish a competitive market among themselves, let alone with foreign carriers in the mix. The Yamoussoukro Decision, signed by all African heads of states in 1999, seeks to open up the aviation market on the continent by granting unlimited flight frequencies and traffic rights to African airlines. It has been repeatedly delayed.
Folly-Kossi said foreign airlines also tended to drive the host country’s airlines out of business and then later exit the market as soon as the routes became less profitable.
“Yields remain the highest in Africa compared with other continents and unfortunately, African carriers are weak and pose very little competitive threat to the mega-carriers,” he said.
According to the airline industry watchdog the International Air Transport Association, Africa saw the second-highest passenger growth of 8,5% (after the Middle East’s 8,7%) in August this year from the same month a year ago.
Folly-Kossi said the survival of smaller carriers on the continent depended on their willingness to form competitive regional alliances.
“There are too many small airlines competing for small disjointed markets.
“There is an absolute need for African carriers to consider forming sub-regional alliance groupings so as to build up and consolidate hubs at their main bases,” he said.
The continental airline association will next week hold its annual general assembly at Sun City, where the further deregulation of the African market for African airlines will be discussed.
The deregulation is aimed at making air connections between African states easier for the movement of people and goods and bringing to an end the need for Africans to fly to other African countries via European hubs.
Link (http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A111659)