Ethiopian Airlines’ CEO has called for the continent to accelerate agreements that will enable African airlines to operate freely to increase competitiveness and reduce the costs for travellers as demand for flying rises.
The stringent regulations on airlines operating between African countries have long been a big challenge for the carrier and other airlines, preventing them from expanding their services, Ethiopian's CEO, Mesfin Tasew, told the Financial Times.
The Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), an initiative to loosen prohibitive regulations on intra-African aviation, was established in 2018 and is currently subscribed to by 37 African countries. But, says the Financial Times, SAATM has not been fully realised, partially due to reluctance from many African countries trying to prevent competition for their national carriers.
Although many other regions have deregulated aviation, airlines operating between African countries have to sign bilateral agreements.
Despite growing demand for intra-African travel, as the continent experiences economic growth and an expanding middle class, airline data suggests that intra-African flights are only 70% full, the lowest compared to other regions because of the high cost of flying.
According to Mesfin, the deregulation of African aviation would facilitate the development of air transport services on the continent, increasing its meagre 2% contribution to global air traffic (this low figure despite its 18% stake in the world's population).
Derek Mesko, a Ugandan industry strategist, told the Financial Times that the biggest challenge faced by the continent's aviation industry is constraints on market access.
US-based aircraft manufacturer Boeing projects that intra-African passenger traffic will quadruple in the next two decades, positioning its growth among the highest globally. However, analysts agree that a single air transport market will be essential for this to take place.
Ethiopian Airlines has worked around the obstacles by establishing partnerships with other carriers through joint ventures and acquiring stakes in some of them. The carrier has partnerships with ASKY in Togo, Malawi Airlines and Zambia Airways and is due to launch a joint venture with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The demand for air transport in Africa cannot be satisfied by only a few airlines, says Mesfin.
