Africa to open its skies by year-end

The 23 African states that signed the January 2015 Declaration of Solemn Commitment towards the establishment of a Single African Air Transport Market by 2017 are expected to enter into open skies agreements by December 31.

The African Union Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC) is currently working on the implementation guidelines towards open skies, which are expected to be released by the end of this year, Iata VP for Africa, Raphael Kuuchi told Tourism Update on the sidelines of the Acsa Aviation Barometer launch. “Once the implementation guidelines have been rolled out, the solemn declaration will become effective and airlines from these signatory states will be able to fly freely between one another,” he says.

“There’ll be an immediate increase in flight activity, because airlines that were previously denied the opportunity to increase frequencies to certain destinations will be able to do so.

“There’ll also be an increase in traffic volume and in competition and, as a result, fares are expected to decrease by 25-35% between city pairs,” he says.

The travel time between signatory countries will also decrease, and more people will be afforded the opportunity to travel by air, adds Kuuchi.

The Declaration of Solemn Commitment uses the model of the Yamoussoukro Decision to immediately allow countries that are ready and willing to open up their markets. It was signed by 11 states at the AU Summit in January 2015. Since then, an additional 12 countries have signed up, bringing the total number to 23.

Currently, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Ghana, Congo Republic, Senegal, Togo, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire and Benin make up 14 of the 23 countries that have signed the Declaration of Solemn Commitment.

Kuuchi told Tourism Update that the Yamoussoukro Decision, which was signed by 44 heads of state in 1999, was supposed to be a continental liberalisation programme, but the quest for many African governments to protect weak national airlines had largely prevented its implementation.

“The African Union realised it was going to be very difficult to have all 44 countries wake up one day and say ‘all of our markets are open,’ so AFCAC decided to get countries immediately willing to open their markets to sign the declaration.

At present, carriers fly between countries using bilateral agreements, wherein the carrier is given a certain amount of traffic rights or freedom rights to operate into that country.

Source: tourismupdate.co.za