#Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM)

[africaindustrializationday]

Ensure aviation plays a major role in connecting Africa, promoting its social, economic and political integration.

The Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) is a flagship project of the African Union Agenda 2063, an initiative of the African Union to create a single unified air transport market in Africa to advance the liberalization of civil aviation in Africa and act as an impetus to the continent’s economic integration agenda. SAATM will ensure aviation plays a major role in connecting Africa, promoting its social, economic and political integration and boosting intra-Africa trade and tourism as a result. The SAATM was created to expedite the full implementation of the Yamoussoukro Decision (pdf)

The African Union Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM)

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Four years on, Nigeria lags behind in open skies, $1.3b revenue agenda

Four years on, Nigeria lags behind in open skies, $1.3b revenue agenda

(Photo by Kola Sulaimon / AFP) • FG, operators divided on implementation strategy, prospects • Local airlines lack corporate governance, cooperation to compete – Experts With no structure in place these past four years, Nigeria lags behind other African countries in the race for open skies agenda in air transport, which is estimated to be worth over $1.3 billion in revenue earnings…

[spire-research-and-consulting]

Africa’s aviation sector opens up

When the African Union (AU) launched the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) in January this year, it finally opened up Africa’s skies. 23 signatories on board, though another 32 AU members are yet to sign on.

SAATM’s launch is a part of AU’s Africa 2063 project, which is a commitment to intra-continent development. If a common regulatory framework is put into place, this could benefit intra-continental travellers immensely, thus boosting commerce and tourism flows among African countries.

Will Africa become the world’s next big aviation market?

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Why We're Supporting Single Africa Air Transport Market, By Ethiopian Airlines

Why We’re Supporting Single Africa Air Transport Market, By Ethiopian Airlines

Group Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde Gebremariam, has reiterated the call for implementation of Single African Air Transportation Market (SAATM) so as to boost intra-Africa trade.

“Ethiopian Airlines has been advocating for the implementation of the Single African Air Transportation Market (SAATM) based on the Yamoussoukro Decision launched by the African Union Heads of…

[upshotre]

Ethiopian Airlines Advocates sllp0 postingle Africa Air Transport market

  Ethiopian Airlines Advocates sllp0 postingle Africa Air Transport market   Ethiopian Airlines has advocated for implementation of Single African Air Transportation Market (SAATM) to boost intral-Africa trade.     Mr Tewolde Gebremariam, Group Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines, made the call in an interview with journalists on Friday in Abuja.     According to him, such move will tremendously promote African aviation industry globally.   “Ethiopian Airlines has been advocating for the implementation of the Single African Air Transportation Market (SAATM) per the Yamoussoukro Decision.   “So far, a number of African countries have signed SAATM which, once implemented, will drive down airfares by allowing carriers of signatory countries to freely access each other`s airports.   “SAATM is one of the flagship projects of the African Union`s Agenda 2063. It will ensure that aviation plays a major role connecting Africa in order to achieve social, economic and political integration,“ he said.   Gebremariam said that SAATM was launched by the African Union Heads of State and Government in January 2018. He said unrealistic fear that the established airlines like ET, Egypt Air, Air Marco would take advantage of SAATM at the expense of new national carriers was baseless.   “African Union has competitive rules that prohibit any practice that negatively affect the liberalisation of intra-Africa air transport services and which has its object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition.     “Air transportation service in Africa is one of the underserved, compared elsewhere; African carriers, all combined, cover less than 3 per cent of the world`s air transportation. “Similarly, African carriers` market share in their home market, Africa, is only less than 20 per cent while the remaining is being taken up by the non-African carriers,“ he said. He said, similarly, SAATM had advised African countries to open up their skies for African carriers to ensure burden on Africa national carrier got ease via motivating the countries. On corporate social responsibilities, he said Ethiopian Airlines granted free air ticket to people in need of medical assistance overseas. “Under its fly Greener initiative, Ethiopian has been planting a tree per each passenger it carries, in cooperation with partners. We also sponsor different initiatives which benefit societies such as sport oversea,“ he added.   Read the full article

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4 -min. read

Confession time: I’m something of an airline geek. That guy who pores over the route map at the back of the in-flight mag. Killing time in an airport, I’ll fire up the flight-tracking app on my iPad and gaze at the aerial highways jammed with digital planes, the faraway rush-hour traffic connecting the USA, Europe and Asia.

And yet over Africa the skies are, by comparison, deserted. On-screen, just a handful of digital tumbleweeds roll their way slowly from Abuja to Addis, Joburg to Dar. The remarkable continent I call home is inhabited by 12 per cent of the world’s population, yet it accounts for just three per cent of its airline traffic.

It’s an issue that demands attention – and not just for those in the tourism business, for airlines do more than bring curious visitors from faraway places. They provide opportunity: for trade and for exploration. For education abroad; for connections beyond our own town and country. To steal a line from one airline’s slogan, airlines bring the world to Africa, and take Africans to the world. They are, in so many ways, the very departure point for our own empowerment.

Yet unlike the skies of Europe, where free competition determines who flies where and when, African airlines have to cut through reams of red tape before they can take to the skies. Instead of commercial viability being the deciding factor, onerous bilateral agreements between governments dictate which airlines can fly where, how often, and with how many seats. A recipe for commercial success it is not.

Not that there haven’t been efforts to change the state of play. The Yamoussoukro Declaration of 1988 – 30 years ago! – first opened the door to liberalising African skies. Amid concerns about foreign carriers outcompeting African airlines, the door slammed quickly shut. A decade later the Yamoussoukro Decision revived the idea, but also never gathered much political muster. Was the Abuja Declaration of 2012 any more successful? I’ll let you answer that one for yourself.

But this year brings with it a new opportunity for the emancipation of African skies. Well, some of them at least.

Graphic representation of African air space on a weekday – courtesy of FlightView

January 2018 saw the African Union launch the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) initiative. Twenty-three countries – out of 55 on the continent – have committed themselves to liberalising air access and ownership in Africa. And the potential is enormous.

A survey by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) suggests that if 12 key African countries opened their aviation markets and increased connectivity, it would create an extra 155,000 jobs and generate an additional US $1.3 billion in annual gross domestic product. Talk about empowering economies and communities.

“But the benefits of a connected continent will only be realised through effective implementation of SAATM”, cautions Raphael Kuuchi, IATA’s vice president for Africa.   “Greater connectivity will lead to greater prosperity. Governments must act on their commitments, and allow their economies to fly high on the wings of aviation.”

IATA’s enthusiasm is well founded. When the European Union created the Internal Market for Aviation in 1992, deregulating European skies, the continent saw an explosion in air traffic and a revolution in tourism. Between 1993 and 2015, the number of air travellers passing through European airports trebled – to nearly one billion passengers – and the cost of air travel plummeted.

Photo by Caleb Wood

The arrival of open skies also sparked the rapid growth of budget airlines, which in turn forced lumbering legacy carriers to improve their services and lower their fares. Competition drives innovation, creating new markets and new opportunities for both visitors and locals.

Not that it’s a magic wand, mind you.

“Markets don’t magically appear. They require work and investment. They have to be cultivated”, says Linden Birns, managing director of Plane Talking, a leading aviation consultancy. “The airlines will enable the traffic to flow, but they’re not the ones who develop tourism infrastructure and take it to market. They can support and forge partnerships, but it’s down to the destinations to develop themselves.”

Admittedly, Africa has neither the potential market nor destination density of Europe; but there are good examples of air access opening up exciting new avenues of opportunity.

In 2016 Kenya Airways took the bold step of launching a route from Cape Town to Nairobi, with a stop en route in Livingstone, Zambia. The route was such a success it was followed up a year later with a similar service stopping in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. From June 2018 it will add a third frequency, with non-stop flights from South Africa’s Mother City to the Kenyan capital. After so long in the tourism doldrums, the past few years has seen enormous tourism investment on both sides of the Zambezi River. Access breeds demand in a symbiotic circle of prosperity.

While great strides have been made in linking the furthest corners of Africa to the world, there’s still much work to be done for the true value of a connected continent to come to the fore. The formal establishment of the Single African Air Transport Market is an excellent first step, empowering airlines to seek out and serve new markets. And once air access is liberalised, the sky’s the limit for growing tourism in Africa.

[This article was published in Beyond: Empowered, We Are Africa’s print magazine, in May 2018.]

The post OPPORTUNITY IS IN THE AIR appeared first on We Are Africa.

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Sirika, African Ministers Push Single Air Transport Market By Wole Oyebade Nigeria's Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, and other Africa transport ministers have rallied other countries on the continent behind the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM).

[tripstations]

Africa’s aviation sector forecast to grow 5% per annum over next 20 years

Africa’s vast aviation potential as the continent continues to increase airline frequency to the GCC will be explored at the Inaugural CONNECT Middle East, India and Africa – co-located with Arabian Travel Market 2019 and taking place at Dubai World Trade Centre on Tuesday 30th April and Wednesday 1st May.

With up to 300 delegates, the forum will include a packed conference programme, panel discussion and airline & industry briefings as well as unlimited one-to-one meetings pre-scheduled for airlines, airports and suppliers – all combined with endless informal opportunities for networking throughout the two days.

The potential for the aviation sector in Africa is immense. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) projects that the African continent will become one of the fastest growing aviation regions within the next 20 years, with an average annual expansion rate of almost 5%.

Currently, there are 731 airports and 419 airlines on the African continent, with the aviation sector supporting around 7 million jobs and generating $80 billion in economic activity. In terms of passenger numbers, 47 million passengers departed from Africa’s top five airports, which included Cairo, Addis Ababa and Marrakesh in 2018, according to the latest ANKER report.

“Emirates and Saudia were only responsible for 8 million of those passengers, highlighting the potential for new routes throughout the continent and between the Middle East and Africa. Furthermore, IATA reckons if just 12 key Africa countries opened their markets and increased connectivity, an extra 155,000 jobs and US$1.3 billion in annual GDP would be created in those countries,” said Nick Pilbeam, Divisional Director, Reed Travel Exhibitions.

The international aviation industry has been monitoring developments in Africa closely, especially since the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) agreement was drawn up in January 2018. The aim of SAATM is to open up Africa’s skies, allowing airlines to fly between any two African cities without having to do so via their home hub airport, boosting intra-Africa trade and tourism as a result. To date, 28 countries out of 55 member states have signed up to SAATM representing over 80% of the existing aviation market in Africa.

However, despite its rosy outlook, the sector still faces significant challenges, indeed, protectionist trends have resulted in a rather lacklustre response from many members, concerning competition rules, ownership and control, consumer rights, taxes and commercial viability.

“These mechanics are integral to an open sky treaty and necessary to resolve existing differences between airlines and provide an equitable way forward. Sixteen countries in Africa are landlocked, so the pent-up demand for affordable air transport must be considerable,” said Karin Butot, CEO, The Airport Agency.

“These, as well as other salient issues, will no doubt be discussed at length between senior network planning teams and high-level executives representing the aviation and tourism industries, in Africa’s as well as the Middle East & Asia, through unlimited one-to-one pre-scheduled networking appointments,” added Butot.

Participants include, Emirates, Etihad, China Southern Airlines, Jordan Aviation, Air Asia, flydubai, Gulf Air and Oman Air, EgyptAir, Royal Air Maroc, Air Senegal, AfriJet (Gabon), and Arik Air (Nigeria) amongst others which are already registered for the event.

With a focus on the African aviation market, a panel titled ‘Regional Focus: Analysing the opportunities and threats for the African Market’ will take place between 11.30am – 12.30pm on Wednesday 1st May. This panel will look at the growth potential of Africa’s aviation industry, while discussing strategies in place for the development of airports and airlines within the region as well as evaluating business development opportunities between the Middle East and Africa.

Another highlight will be a session titled ‘How do airports and their regions work together to attract new airline services and open up new markets: what can be learned from engaging case studies?’. This panel will discuss the fundamental cooperation of an airport and its region to successfully grow passenger throughput – while ensuring the success of both new and existing routes.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Original Article

The post Africa’s aviation sector forecast to grow 5% per annum over next 20 years appeared first on Tripstations.

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Nigerian Airlines Lose Lucrative West Coast Routes

Nigerian Airlines Lose Lucrative West Coast Routes

Nigerian airlines are losing lucrative West and Central African markets, which used to sustain them in the past as a result of the creation of open sky policy that allows other airlines free entry and free exit in 23 African countries.

THISDAY investigations revealed that the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), which was ratified by the African Union early last year created open sky…

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The AfCFTA and shared prosperity: Obstacles and opportunities, By Ese Owie

The AfCFTA and shared prosperity: Obstacles and opportunities, By Ese Owie

Going forward, the following considerations must be taken into account… The first is to ensure that the provisions of the agreement are implemented in an effective and business-friendly manner… private-sector operators need to be afforded ample policy maneuvering space in making the provisions of the agreement meaningful in an African context and for their day-to-day transactions. On January 1,…

[phooll123]

44 African countries sign African Continental Free Trade Area, Nigeria yet to sign

10 of the African Union's (AU) 55 member states did not sign the agreement.

The summit was a step forward for the AU's 

2063 project 

for closer African integration, with 27 member states also signing a commitment for the free movement of persons.

African leaders signed the agreement that is predicted to boost intra-African trade. If successful, it will be the biggest trade trade agreement since the formation of the 

World Trade Organization in 1995

.

By reducing barriers to trade, such as removing import duties and non-tariff barriers, African countries hope to boost intra-continental business.

The AfCFTA could improve trade between African countries, which in 

2016 estimates stated accounted for only 10%

.

Nigeria hasn't joined the party

However, it wasn't all forward progress. In a set-back for the African Union, Nigeria, one of

 Africa's largest economies

 and the

most populous

, declined to sign the agreement.

Commenting on 

Twitter

, Nigeria's President Buhari said: "We will not agree to anything that will undermine local manufacturers and entrepreneurs, or that may lead to Nigeria becoming a dumping ground for finished goods."

South Africa, also one of Africa's largest economies, did not sign the agreement, but President Ramaphosa 

stated his commitment

 to the agreement once the necessary legal processes were undertaken. The president did sign the Kigali agreement on the establishment of the AfCFTA.

Albert M. Muchanga, AU commissioner for Trade and Industry, remained optimistic: "The other countries will come on board. We're very very certain about that." "The Labor movement, civil society, parliamentarians. They need to reach out to everybody," Muchanga said. Jean-Louis Billon, VP of AfroChampions, a private sector group backing the initiative, told CNN: "There (are) too many barriers within the African continent and the only way for us to get to real development in the future is to boost trade and industry relations."

A working progress

The idea of a continent-wide trade agreement has been working progress for decades, but has accelerated in the past few years by African leaders committed to Pan-African integration. "We started with the regional economic communities in the 70s and they were designated as the building blocks to the African economic community. Then in 1991 we had the Abuja Treaty in terms of the African economic community, with the indicative timeline of 34 years," Muchanga told CNN. "Then in 2012, we decided to fast track the process and that's when it was it was decided that we should create the African Continental Free Trade Area," Muchanga said.

The summit has been launched off the back of the

 Single African Air Transport Market

 (SAATM), unveiled in January. A total of 23 member states signed a commitment to bring air travel under a common regulatory framework.

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[aeroclix]

Two more African countries implement Open Skies

Nigeria and Burkina Faso have become the latest African states to sign the memorandum of implementation (MOI) for the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), removing all bilateral restrictions on intra-African flights. read more Link to the original sitehttps://www.aeroclix.com/uncategorized/two-more-african-countries-implement-open-skies/

[afroinsider]

Sirika, African ministers push single air transport market | The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News

Sirika, African ministers push single air transport market | The Guardian Nigeria News – Nigeria and World News

[FILE PHOTO] Nigeria’s Aviation minister Hadi Sirika

Nigeria’s Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, and other Africa transport ministers have rallied other countries on the continent behind the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM).     Sirika, at the ongoing Second Ordinary Session of the African Union Specialised Technical Committee in Transport, Transcontinental and Interregional…

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Future Africa Media, Presents. @myjoyonline - • Ghana has started implementation of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) treaty, an initiative that seeks to deregulate the aviation sector of the African continent. - • What this means is that all cross-border flights with countries that have also implemented the treaty will now be treated as domestic flights. This measure intends to reduce fares and increase travelers’ convenience, encourage the opening and maintenance of air links between African countries and thus stimulate economic growth through air transport and tourism. - • A total of 27 countries made commitments towards the Memorandum of Implementation (MoI) in May this year at a conference held in Lome, Togo. However, only 14 countries have signed the agreement. West African nations including The Gambia, Burkina Faso, Togo and Ghana are leading its implementation. - • #princedukemedia #entrepreneurlifestyle #futureafricamedia #tslifeghanaafrica #motivation #leadership #entrepreneurship #businesscoaching #followforfollow #startup #marketing #entrepreneurquotes #networkmarketing #likeforlike #digitalagency #financialfreedom #success #digitalmarketing #branding #entrepreneur #empowerment #entrepreneurlife #entrepreneurmindset #entrepreneurs #business #endpoverty #diaspora #africa #ghana #accra 🙏🏿🇬🇭✌🏿 https://www.instagram.com/p/Brx7X4DhSI0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1490aczv7rowh