The open skies treaty will also give the continent’s big four carriers
unfettered access and multiple destinations to any city in the countries
under the arrangement, as part of African Union’s move to improve
connectivity and integrate countries. FOTOSEARCH
Travellers across East Africa are set to enjoy a drop in
airfares by a quarter after 23 countries adopted an open skies treaty
this week.
Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia are among the
countries signing the Single African Air Transport Market treaty but
Tanzania and Uganda have not assented to it. The treaty guarantees a 25
per cent drop in air fares for 2.4 million travellers who fly within the
region.
The open skies treaty will also give the
continent’s big four carriers — Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airways,
RwandAir and South African Airlines — unfettered access and multiple
destinations to any city in the countries under the arrangement, as part
of African Union’s move to improve connectivity and integrate
countries.
The initiative is expected to liberalise air
transport markets in Africa by offering lower fares, better
connectivity and increasing demand.
“We have seen 23
member states have pledged their solemn commitment to the Single Air
Market, the implementation of which will increase the number of routes,
reduce the cost of air travel and contribute to the expansion of
intra-African trade and tourism,” AU chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat
said.
Notification letters
The EastAfrican understands that already Kenya,
Ethiopia, and Rwanda have written notification letters to the 20
countries and stakeholders to align with the new programme.
“The
three countries led by Rwanda wrote their letter early this week to the
stakeholders and respective countries’ foreign affairs ministries,” a
source with knowledge of the matter said.
Tanzania,
Uganda and Burundi are yet to sign the treaty, due to concerns over
competition within their markets and how this would curtail their dreams
of a national airline.
“These countries have in recent
times either been propping up their national airlines or changing
policies to allow for the entry of bigger players to support their
national airlines. They are still discussing these issues, which is why
they haven’t signed up for this initiative,” the source said.
Unified air transport market
Rwanda’s
President Paul Kagame, who is the current chairman of the African Union
is set to preside over the launch of the treaty, and is said to be its
biggest cheerleader as he champions for the continent to have a unified
air transport market.
The regional countries have over
the past 18 years been trying to create a seamless common airspace with
no success due to restrictive bilateral air agreements and protectionism
by member states.
In the proposal for one aviation
bloc, the East African Community was to negotiate air service agreements
with foreign countries as one bloc, which would have seen the
classification of flights between the countries as domestic airlines
thus lowering the costs of airfares.
To date, domestic
air transport within the region remains un-harmonised since the work on
EAC air transport regulations on liberalisation of air transport has not
been adopted.
Resistance
Meanwhile,
the single markets African air transport treaty is receiving pockets of
resistance with operators in Nigeria, the biggest aviation market in
West Africa, voicing their displeasure saying it will drive them out of
business.
Nogie Meggison, the chairman of the Airlines
Operators of Nigeria said implementation of the treaty would open the
country to losses from competition from smaller countries.
“There was no consultation with the carriers; not any word about fair competition from the bigger players on the continent. We are opening up our market further yet domestic carriers are still struggling,” said Mr Meggison.
“There was no consultation with the carriers; not any word about fair competition from the bigger players on the continent. We are opening up our market further yet domestic carriers are still struggling,” said Mr Meggison.
Mohammed
Joji of the Aircraft Operators of Nigeria said that Nigeria should
first deal with local issues facing players before going for the open
skies policies.
“Our country cannot be talking about
sky liberalisation where local policies have not favoured local carriers
to face their African counterparts. We still have perennial problems of
foreign exchange, VAT, multiple taxation and high cost of aviation
fuel, policy flip-flop. These should be addressed first before we open
our skies to other players,” said Mr Joji.
Signatories
The
countries that have signed this treaty are Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia,
Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote D’Ivoire, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria,
Botswana, Cape Verde, Republic of Congo and Guinea Conakry.
Others are Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Togo and Zimbabwe.
The
International Air Transport Association (IATA) says that the
continental move for a single air transport market would unlock other
opportunities.
The continent has over the years
suffered from protectionist legal barriers, regulatory hurdles,
inadequate infrastructure, high taxes, and protectionism which have
slowed down the implementation of the Yamoussoukro Decision adopted in
1999. It committed 44 signatory countries in Africa to liberalisation of
their air transport.
“This initiative will ease market
entry as airlines will be able to fly freely, boost air transport
demand and increase traffic and frequencies in the various routes. It
offers better opportunities,” IATA said.
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