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Much of Africa needs to improve its commercial aviation infrastructure

18th July 2014

By: Keith Campbell

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

  

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To have effective commercial aviation sectors, African countries must have the proper infrastructure, but, currently, not all have such infrastructure. This is one of the challenges facing the development of commercial aviation on the continent. “Infrastructure in commercial aviation is a three-legged stool – airlines, airports and air traffic management – with a good regulatory system on top,” explains Boeing International VP for Africa Miguel Santos. “All need to be good in order to have a good commercial aviation environment.”

The state of commercial aviation infrastructure in Africa varies greatly from region to region and from country to country. “Southern Africa has a great commercial aviation base,” he affirms. “Great regulation, great airports, great air traffic management. There is also a good local aviation industry. North Africa is well established.” East Africa is emerging strongly. The other regions (although not all the countries in them) currently lag behind.

One of the markers of lagging aviation infrastructure on the continent is the age of the airliners operated by African airlines. Last year, the average in-service commercial mainline jet fleet age in Africa was about 13.75 years, compared with around 10.5 years for the world as a whole. However, this is a great improvement on the recent past – in 2004, the figure for the African jet fleet was about 18.5 years, compared with almost 12 years for the world. And the trend for Africa since 2004 has mostly been downwards (the decline halted from 2008 to 2010, but did not reverse; of course, 2008 marked the onset of the Great Recession).

Another problem is that the 1999 Yamoussoukro Decision, to deregulate air services in Africa and create regional aviation markets open to regional competition, still has not been implemented. The Yamoussoukro Decision is an example of what is called an Open Skies agreement. The European Union (EU) is an Open Skies region; there is also an EU-US Open Skies agreement and the US has similar bilateral agreements with more than 100 countries. The Association of South East Asian Nations will implement a regional Open Skies policy next year. Everywhere that they have been implemented, such agreements have greatly stimulated the affected commercial aviation sectors.

Of course, wider issues also affect the African commercial aviation sector. Electricity is a fundamental necessity in modern economies, yet the African electrification rate is only 41.8%, compared with 90.8% in China and East Asia, 68.5% in South Asia, 89% in the Middle East and 93.2% in Latin America. Worse, while North Africa enjoys an electrification rate of 99% (the highest in the developing world), the figure for sub-Saharan Africa is just 30.5%.

Further, in a number of countries, conflict is a problem. This ranges from large-scale conflicts which are effectively civil wars to serious terrorism activities. These have both direct and indirect effects on commercial aviation.

The number of Africans receiving tertiary and advanced technical education is another constraint. Boeing estimates that between 2012 and 2031, the continent will need to produce 16 200 new aviation technicians and 14 500 new pilots.

Inadequate commercial aviation infrastructure can damage African aviation sectors through bans imposed on locally based airlines by major air transport markets, especially the EU. Already the EU has banned all airlines certified in Benin, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Liberia, Mozambique, São Tomé e Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Sudan and Zambia. Most airlines based in Angola and Gabon have also been banned from EU airspace (national carrier TAAG Angola Airlines has not been blacklisted). These bans have been imposed because the EU believes that the airlines concerned suffer from poor maintenance and poor regulatory oversight standards. (The banned list includes airlines from other continents as well.)

In general, the African commercial aviation sector needs investment in education, infrastructure development, safety and security and regulatory frameworks. Even so, the opportunities for the sector remain considerable, with a growing market from both demographic and economic growth.

 

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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