African airlines call for open skies alliance

CAIRO – Scores of African airlines called on Monday for a new air alliance for the continent in which member states would give each other open access to the aviation market, which they said was set to grow by 6,3 per cent in 2007.

The African Airlines Association (AFRAA), which represents the 41 airlines, said member states would liberalise aviation rules and allow airlines from other member states to operate in their countries without prior bilateral agreements. The move came as African airlines like South Africa and Kenya Airways try to compete with European carriers like British Airways and Air France with a large presence in Africa.”Foreign competitors are intensifying their penetration into the African market,” AAFRA Secretary General Christian Folly-Kossi said at the association’s annual meeting in Cairo, where he announced the new initiative.Africans say a decision by the European Union to blacklist airlines from operating in the 25-nation European bloc has worsened the continent’s image and handed European travellers a reason to give African carriers a wide berth.Although it accounts for just 4,5 per cent of global traffic, Africa had 30 per cent of all air transport accidents between 1996 and last year.Africa’s bad safety reputation has been largely blamed on small, unscheduled carriers flying old Soviet-made planes dangerously overloaded with passengers and cargo.But AFRAA complained that the air-safety record of just a few countries including Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo was sullying the image of the African airlines overall.Crashes have been concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Sudan, Nigeria and Kenya, which together account for 62 per cent of all air accidents in Africa.AFRAA also urged African states to implement visa-free movement on the continent, where the population is set to reach 1,12 billion in 2020.”It is unacceptable that non-Africans are accorded visas on arrival on almost all African entry points whilst Africans typically are subjected to insurmountable obstacles in obtaining visas,” Folly-Kossi said.Egypt, South Africa and Ethiopia were among states that had already expressed support for the alliance, called the “Club of the Ready and Willing” (CREW), he added.Nampa-ReutersThe move came as African airlines like South Africa and Kenya Airways try to compete with European carriers like British Airways and Air France with a large presence in Africa.”Foreign competitors are intensifying their penetration into the African market,” AAFRA Secretary General Christian Folly-Kossi said at the association’s annual meeting in Cairo, where he announced the new initiative.Africans say a decision by the European Union to blacklist airlines from operating in the 25-nation European bloc has worsened the continent’s image and handed European travellers a reason to give African carriers a wide berth.Although it accounts for just 4,5 per cent of global traffic, Africa had 30 per cent of all air transport accidents between 1996 and last year.Africa’s bad safety reputation has been largely blamed on small, unscheduled carriers flying old Soviet-made planes dangerously overloaded with passengers and cargo.But AFRAA complained that the air-safety record of just a few countries including Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo was sullying the image of the African airlines overall.Crashes have been concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Sudan, Nigeria and Kenya, which together account for 62 per cent of all air accidents in Africa.AFRAA also urged African states to implement visa-free movement on the continent, where the population is set to reach 1,12 billion in 2020.”It is unacceptable that non-Africans are accorded visas on arrival on almost all African entry points whilst Africans typically are subjected to insurmountable obstacles in obtaining visas,” Folly-Kossi said.Egypt, South Africa and Ethiopia were among states that had already expressed support for the alliance, called the “Club of the Ready and Willing” (CREW), he added.Nampa-Reuters