Plans to implement Free Route Airspace (FRA) in Eastern and Southern Africa by the end of 2026 face a complex roll-out involving multiple governments and air navigation service providers with varying levels of readiness.
The initiative follows the implementation of FRA in West and Central Africa last year.
However, experts expect growing pains and gradual implementation, as it will require collaboration from multiple regional stakeholders and governments.
During a media briefing at the 14th AFRAA Stakeholders Convention in Johannesburg earlier this year, AFRAA Secretary General, Abdérahmane Berthé, said the association aimed to see the initiative implemented in Eastern and Southern Africa by year-end.
FRA allows airlines to plan user-preferred routes through defined airspace rather than being restricted to the existing network of fixed airways. This can shorten flight times and reduce fuel consumption and operational costs. Routes must still be filed before departure, while any in-flight changes remain subject to air traffic control clearance.
These free routes enable pilots to adjust to real-time conditions such as weather, reducing operational costs through more efficient fuel consumption and shorter flight times.
The initiative is not expected to affect domestic South African routes but will improve regional flight paths, aviation consultant Sean Mendis told Travel News.
“Even though this will enable free airspace within each flight information region (FIR), the points where you cross from one country or FIR to another will remain defined. Aircraft will have to enter and exit FIRs through specific gateways or waypoints, but once they are in, they will have more free rein,” he said.
Mendis explained that airlines would still need to file flight plans and that implementation might face delays depending on the regulations and processes adopted.
“The concept of free routing being available is always going to be a positive. Free routing allows aircraft to operate more efficiently, even within a set of constraints,” he said.
Fragmented implementation
FRA implementation in Southern and Eastern Africa is likely to be gradual and uneven because of differing levels of readiness among the regions’ air navigation service providers (ANSPs).
“In this region, each FIR operates independently and the ANSPs each designate their own airways, policies and regulations. Because the region has got a lot of smaller ANSPs, which have to be fitted individually, it is going to be more of a challenge to implement,” explained Mendis.
The implementation of FRA would require significant investment from each ANSP to train their air traffic controllers and enhance their equipment, he said, noting that some smaller countries in the region, such as Eswatini or Malawi, might not have the reserves to implement FRA yet.
“At the end of the day, I think those countries which are ready to implement FRA will step up. Those who are not ready will slowly see the benefits of implementing it and eventually do it themselves,” he said.
Revised ANSP pricing mechanisms
FRA would reduce operational costs for airlines but would require ANSPs to revise their pricing mechanisms for aircraft operating in their FIRs, which might delay implementation, said Mendis.
“One of the challenges which may arise for the smaller countries and even some of the larger ones, is that they will have to revise their pricing mechanisms. This may cause the most significant delay to FRA’s implementation.”
He explained that while current air navigation pricing mechanisms charged airlines based on the distances they flew on designated airways, FRA would see aircraft deviate from these flight paths.
Mendis said some countries might opt for live surveillance to monitor free route flight paths, while others might calculate fees based on which entry and exit waypoints an aircraft used to navigate the FIR and the distance between them.
“Each ANSP will need to decide which method they want to implement, get it approved by authorities, have it gazetted and submitted to ICAO. However, these processes don’t just happen overnight and may face delays amid government bureaucracy,” he said.
While South Africa is normally an origin or destination on flight paths, other countries in the region that rely more on revenue from overflying on current standard flight paths will be more impacted and may be more resistant to the change.
“There was this same fear about FRA when the EU first implemented it. But, over time, the various EU states realised that it averages out, as some operators may choose to avoid or use certain airspace, based on what is the most efficient option,” said Mendis.
“There’s always going to be teething problems but I expect, in the long run, that initiatives like FRA will become, in some form or another, the rule rather than the exception.”
