Airlines in Africa faced four major challenge areas – connectivity, market access and regulatory reform; taxes, charges and rising costs; environmental sustainability; and safety. This was the main theme of the speech by International Air Transport Association (IATA) regional VP for Africa Kamil Alawadhi to the 2022 General Assembly of the African Airlines Association, in Dakar, Senegal, on Monday.

As background, he pointed out that IATA expected African airlines to make total losses of $638-million this year, while air passenger demand would come in at 32.3%, and air passenger capacity at 31.3%, below the respective figures for 2019. However, IATA – the global representative body for the airline industry – foresaw these losses reducing to $213-million next year, this improvement being pushed by a 27.4% increase in passenger traffic and a 21.9% improvement in capacity.

“Context is everything and whilst most of the traffic numbers are encouraging, Africa is one of the most populated places on Earth, yet it accounts for just 1.9% of global passenger and cargo traffic, thanks largely to the dearth of intra-African connectivity and barriers to market access,” he pointed out. He stressed the importance of implementing the Single African Air Transport Market. Further, this had to be accompanied by a removal of other protectionist policies, including administrative obstacles and differing and inconsistent charges.

He warned against airports and air traffic management agencies increasing their charges to airlines, and against governments imposing new taxes and levies, including carbon taxes. “Every increase deters increasingly cost-sensitive customers, resulting in fewer travellers and even less revenue, not just for airlines, but for all stakeholders across the value chain including airports, ground handlers, suppliers and air navigation services. Ultimately, they set back economic growth and curtail opportunities to create and support jobs and livelihoods.”

Regarding carbon taxes, Alawadhi stressed that a global approach had been agreed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO – a specialist agency of the United Nations). This was the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). At its 2022 Assembly, ICAO had agreed to stabilise international commercial aviation’s carbon emissions at 85% of their 2019 levels. He stressed that countries should fulfil their CORSIA obligations and not launch independent carbon tax policies that could actually undermine CORSIA.

Environmental sustainability also required a massive increase in the global production of sustainable aviation fuels. This required the correct policies and programmes to be created and implemented by governments, to enable such a huge ramp-up in the production of these fuels (from about 300-million litres this year to 450-billion litres in 2050).

“When it comes to safety, there is no room for compromise,” he asserted. “While in 2021, African airlines on the [IATA Operational Safety Audit] registry had zero accidents, incidents across Africa by regional and global operators continue to be experienced. Regrettably, the region’s accident rate remains the highest.”

Safety oversight had to be enhanced. The highest recurring operational risks had to be approached more aggressively. Safety data and information exchange, by all stakeholders, was essential, not optional. The critical role of aeronautical information for aviation safety had to be understood and stressed, and regional and national deficiencies had to be addressed. And there had to be a focus on operational resilience. “Safety is paramount and the focus on this must be unwavering.”