The Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) needs to act as a wake-up call for countries across the continent to “get serious and get going”, delegates at Routes Africa 2019 have heard.
Despite a long wait and numerous promises, Dr Elijah Chingosho, secretary general of African airline group, the African Airlines Association (AFRAA), revealed during Routes Africa that he personally believed that the latest timescale of an at least partial liberalisation of African skies remained an unrealistic target.
Yesterday’s Routes Africa Strategy Summit highlighted some of the most interesting aspects of aviation in Africa today. More than a dozen high-profile speakers debated some of the key topics impacting the aviation business across the region.
An open skies arrangement is unlikely to be introduced in Africa until governments on the continent see their airlines as businesses, not personal play things. Speaking at the Routes Africa Strategy Summit in Tenerife, Raphael Kuuchi, the vice president of Africa at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said the failure of countries to accept the need for liberalisation was endemic across the continent.
African airlines are too small to survive alone and need to work together more if they are to continue doing business in an increasingly global world. In fact it was suggested that unless a small airline could evolve, grow, and develop partnerships with others, it would simply fail.
WATCH exclusive content from this year's World Routes Strategy Summit. Here we highlight a discussion on Open Skies in Africa and how work is progressing towards opening Africa's skies for Africa's airlines from the 'State of the Industry' panel session.
This year’s inaugural Routes Middle East & Africa brought together two regions of the world that are at very different stages of their evolution and the event’s