Africa: States Shun Aviation Agreements

Nairobi

Refusal by some African governments to honour air traffic agreements is restricting growth of aviation around the continent.

Kenya Airways commercial director Hugh Fraser said the airline was forced to revise its expansion programme on three occasions, because the agreements are not streamlined.

"There are three routes we have sought to open or add frequencies this year and for a variety of reasons, we have not been able to launch the services," he said.

It was not exactly clear which route he was referring to. However, the airline was recently forced to delay the launch of a route to Congo Brazzaville and Cotonou in Benin, citing delays in reaching agreement with authorities in Congo.

Mr Fraser was speaking at a two-day East African African Aviation seminar at the Panari hotel in Nairobi on Tuesday evening. The meeting ended on Wednesday.

Aviation in Africa is governed by, among other agreements, the Yamoussoukro declaration, which advocates for an open skies policy between various African countries allowing for free movement of African carriers within member states.

According to a recent International Labour Organisation (ILO) paper on aviation in Africa, up to 50 non-physical barriers limit access to quality and competitive air transport on the continent. This has kept the cost of air travel high, as the absence of co-operation between airlines and air space regulators dims competition.

Kenya Airways, South African Airways, Ethiopian Airlines and Air Mauritius are among the few healthy airlines in sub-Saharan Africa that are not plagued by government interference in their operations.

Unlike the northern Africa region where the airlines are heavily dependent on European tourists, successful sub-Saharan carriers rely on bilateral air traffic agreements and aggressive route expansion to grow their revenues.
However, Mr Fraser said it was becoming difficult to win and exploit air traffic rights on the continent, on the strength of bilateral air agreements.

"Most countries still want to do business on a country by country basis, and not have somebody else determine to them how they should do business, and how they should supposedly open up their sky," he said.

While noting that Kenya Airways sympathised with this view, Mr Fraser noted that it was in the interest of Kenya Airways and other large airlines to form aviation partnerships in Africa.