By Belinda Ayamgha,
GNA
Accra, July 17, GNA-
Aviation Experts have stressed the need for Africa airlines to consolidate
operations in order to reap 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
revolutionarise the African aviation on the continent but will require airlines
to work together.
He explained that
the SAATM was intended to open up the African market for African airlines,
after the space 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 code
shares and joint operations so that they can be more competitive,” he said.
He 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 and get closer to each other 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 10 largest cities in Africa
covered by 30 percent of direct flights compared to about 97 percent 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.
Mr. Simon Allotey,
Director-General of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), said in
recognition of this need for cooperation, the Ministry of Aviation had convened
a meeting between airlines currently operating in the country as well as
incoming ones to see how they could work in partnership to improve their
efficiencies.
“We’re looking at
some of these operators partnering or even merging to achieve the economies of
scale…it will lead to efficiency and reduction in administrative overheads and
that way we can have sustainable airline operations in the country,” he stated.
He said there will
be follow-up meetings with the Minister on the issue.
GNA