International Air Transport Association (Iata) director-general and CEO Alexandre de Juniac has urged the member airlines of the African Airline Association (AFRAA) to focus on safety, cost-competitiveness, opening Africa to trade and travel, and gender diversity. He was addressing the 51st Annual General Assembly of AFRAA, held recently in Mauritius.

“We must never forget that global standards have helped make aviation the safest form of long-distance transport,” he pointed out. “And there is a good example of that in the safety performance of African airlines. The continent had no fatal jet accidents in 2016, 2017 and 2018.” But more had to be done.

He called on more African States to copy Mozambique, Rwanda, Togo and Zimbabwe and incorporate the Iata Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) into their safety oversight systems. (IOSA is already a requirement for AFRAA and Iata membership.) “Counting all accidents, the performance of African airlines on the IOSA registry was more than twice as good as non-IOSA airlines in the region,” he observed.

Concerning operators that are either too small for IOSA, or who undertake ‘bush’ operations, he urged them to achieve Iata Standard Safety Assessment (ISSA) certification. (He congratulated Kenya’s SafariLink, a ‘bush’ operator serving safari lodges, for becoming Africa’s first ISSA-certified operator.)

African States also had to implement International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards. At the moment, only 26 African countries had met or exceeded the ‘threshold’ level of 60% implementation of these standards. ‘[T]hat is just not good enough.”

Regarding cost competitiveness, African airlines are hampered by high costs. Jet fuel costs on the continent are 35% above the global average; user charges make up 11.4% of the operating costs of African airlines, which is 100% higher than the average for the global industry; and the sector suffers from a ‘plethora’ of taxes and charges, including some found nowhere else. These costs help account for the fact that African airlines lose $1.54 for every passenger they carry.

He also urged African countries to follow ICAO standards, this time with regard to taxes and charges. He also called on them to reveal hidden costs like fees and taxes, and benchmark them against worldwide best practice, and to remove cross-subsidies or taxes on jet fuel for international flights.

The liberalisation of intra-African trade, travel and air transport also had to be a priority, he affirmed. He reiterated Iata’s support for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the African Union (AU) Free Movement Protocol, and the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM). The AfCFTA, which came into effect in July, could increase intra-African trade by 52%. The AU Free Movement Protocol would make it easier for Africans to travel within their own continent – currently, some 75% of African countries demand visas for other African travellers. But the protocol has so far been ratified by only four States (Mali, Niger, Rwanda and São Tomé e Príncipe); 15 ratifications are required for it to come into effect. The SAATM promises to greatly benefit the continent’s air transport sector, but only 31 countries have signed it and only nine have included it into national laws.

As for gender diversity, Africa was displaying leadership, with four airlines headed by women (a much better proportion than anywhere else, he stressed), while the first Iata Women in Aviation Diploma Programme had been held in Johannesburg, with subsequent programmes to be hosted next year by Rwandair and Air Mauritius. He urged African airlines to all join Iata’s 25by2025 campaign. This voluntary programme calls for airlines to increase the number of women in senior posts by 25%, or even to 25%, by 2025. The ultimate aim is a 50:50 balance.

“Development is the priority in Africa,” stressed De Juniac. “Aviation contributes significantly to 15 of the 17 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. This includes the most ambitious – to eradicate poverty by 2030. Flying it not a luxury – it is an economic lifeline for this continent.”