African Airlines Should Consolidate Operations

Aviation experts have stressed the need for African airlines to consolidate operations in order to reap the full benefits of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM).

According to the experts, those who will gain the maximum benefits from the SAATM will be large airlines rather than small ones, which will be mostly international, and a few African airlines.

They were speaking during a panel discussion on the African Single Skies at the first day of the 12th Routes Africa Conference and Exhibition being hosted by the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), in Accra on Monday.

Mr. Raphael Kuuchi, Vice President for Africa at the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said the implementation of the SAATM was one of the things that could revolutionize the African aviation on the continent but will require the airlines to work together.

He explained that the SAATM was intended to open up the African market for African airlines, after space has been governed largely by Bilateral Air Service Agreements, with little results.

The SAATM will create opportunities for airlines and airports, owing to the increase in traffic that will ensue.

“The only way airlines can actually benefit will be for them to want to improve their connectivity, and to do so, they need to work together. And this is where we expect airlines to engage each other and try to form partnerships to codeshares and joint operations so that they can be more competitive,” he said.

He further said airlines that were able to come together might be able to compete more efficiently than those who decide to stay alone, and urged all African airlines to take advantage of the Single African Air Transport Market, get closer and work better with each other.

Mr Mory Camara, Development Manager at OAG, an air travel intelligence company, maintained that nothing would happen if African governments did not commit to the open skies policy and work to implement it.

He explained that if this did not happen, growth in the space will be by economics, politics, and geography, among others.

Mr Camara said while there had been some increase in connectivity on the continent, it was far from what it should be, with connectivity in and out of the 10 largest cities in Africa covered by 30 per cent of direct flights, compared to about 97 per cent in Europe.

“There is a lot to be done, and if we're not careful, other mega-carriers will take advantage of the Single African air transport market and benefit more than Africans,” he stated.

Mr. John Attafuah, Managing Director of the GACL, who opened the conference, acknowledged the importance of African airlines working together, saying Ghana had already begun to see the beginning of such cooperation between airlines.

He cited Africa World Airlines' cooperation with South African Airlines in order to take advantage of opportunities that will be available with the opening of Ghana's new Terminal Three, adding that he hoped to see more of such alliances.