Open skies deadline looms

WITH the January 2017
deadline looming, Africa’s
open skies as per the
Yamoussoukro Declaration
(YD) of 1988 was a major
talking point at this year’s
conference. According to Dr
Elijah Chingosho, ceo of the
African Airlines Association, it
is unlikely African airlines and
their governments will meet
this deadline.
So far, 14 countries have
expressed interest in open
skies, but South Africa and
Zimbabwe are the only
two who have signed the
declaration, according to Aasa.
Industry experts say the lack
of implementation of the policy
can in part be attributed to
carriers failing to encourage
their governments to sign up
for open skies.
This inaction could be due
to airlines’ resistance to
competition from other carriers
in the region, says Angeline
Simana, director of Civil
Aviation, Namibia. “The airlines
are very selective of what they
want government to hear.”
Advocate Mandi Samson,
acting md of Air Namibia,
says that in the early 2000s,
smaller African airlines may
have been concerned about
larger African carriers eating
the traffic. Now, with the
presence of international
carriers operating in Africa,
she says that in hindsight, it
may have been better to allow
larger African airlines to serve
the market.
 “We need to have a
common understanding of
what we want to achieve
with open skies,” says Inati
Ntshanga, ceo of SAX.