Page 61 - World Airnews September 2020 Edition

INTERVIEW AIRLINES

NIGERIA FEDERAL ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES

GOVERNMENT REVIEWS CREATES PARTNERSHIPS

AIR AGREEMENT

By Maureen Ihua-Maduenyi By Wallace Mawire

upon the adoption of the declaration by the of the open skies policy.

assembly of heads of state and government These problems, they said, included mul-

total of 28 African countries of the AU. tiple taxation and visa restrictions where French delegation led by their

Ahave signed the Single African Countries which have signed SAATM are Nigerians are still required to have over 34 Aminister of economy and fi nance

Air Transport Market of the African Union technically required to lift all restrictions and visas to travel within Africa alone. Bruno Le Maire visited Ethiopian Airlines

necessitating a review of air transport non-tariff barriers from bilateral air services Chairman Airline Operators of Nigeria or recently to create a business partnership.

agreement between them and the federal agreements and other regulatory bodies. AON Nogie Meggison said domestic airlines It is understood that on their arrival in

government. Among many other provisions, SAATM were at a disadvantage to other African Ethiopia, the French delegation was wel-

By the end of July this year - 28 out of prohibits limitations on the number of airlines largely government-owned and comed by Ethiopian group CEO Tewolde

the 55 countries that make up the AU have frequencies and capacity offered on air heavily subsidised. GebreMariam and the executive manage-
ment team and discussions took place

signed the treaty, which require state parties services linking any city pair combination He said South African Airways had an around co-operation.

to liberalise scheduled and non-scheduled between state parties concerned while average of about (US) $350m yearly in the
intra-Africa air transport services in line with each designated airline is allowed to mount past decade and Kenya Airways about (US) “It is a special privilege and honour for us to
the provisions of the Yamoussoukro Decision. and operate capacity and frequency as it $600 m in 2016, yet they would be com- meet with Bruno at our headquarters and we
highly appreciate his visit. We, at Ethiopian

The 28 states are Benin, Burkina Faso, deems appropriate. peting with Nigerian airlines with private

Botswana, Capo Verde, Central African It also mandates that no member state finance at 28 per cent interest rate. Airlines, are very happy with our partnership
with the French government and various
Republic, Chad, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt should unilaterally limit the volume of According to him, Nigeria is the only French global companies like Airbus, Safran,

and Ethiopia. Others are Gabon, Gambia, traffic, the type of aircraft to be operated country in Africa with eight entry points Thales, ADPI (Air Port De Paris International)

Ghana, Guinea Conakry, Kenya, Liberia, or the number of flights per week except while most of the other African countries etc. We are working together to expand our
Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, for environmental, safety, technical or have only one entry point. partnership to the next level.

Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Togo, other special consideration. “Nigeria is simply not ready to handle

“Our Airbus fleet is growing very fast with
Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Cameroon. Former minister of state for aviation Hadi the level of unfair competition that the full twelve A-350 in service and 12 on order. We

These countries, according to the Interna- Sirika recently said that the full implemen- implementation of SAATM will bring upon

tional Air Transport Association, represent tation and operationalisation of SAATM the country,” he added. are also evaluating other airplane models from

Airbus. The recent addition of the beautiful

over 80 per cent of the existing aviation would help Nigeria and other African coun- Chairman and chief executive officer of Air city of Marseille to our fast-growing network

market in Africa. tries to leap forward to become effective Peace Allen Onyema described SAATM as a of 121 international destinations is a very

With the new agreement, many more global competitors in aviation. fraud against Nigeria, adding that it would not strong sign of a growing relationship between

carriers within the continent are expected An analyst and managing partner Aglow create a level-playing field for everyone. Ethiopia and France,” said GebreMariam.

to begin flight services into Nigeria. Aviation Support Services Limited Tayo “The idea behind SAATM is noble. Howev- The discussion covered partnership in

The director of Air Transport Regulation of Ojuri said the failure to implement SAATM er, in the practical sense, it is a fraud against airport expansion, duty free facilities and

the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) open skies remained a major factor in the this country. Nigeria has the population and in-flight entertainment, among others.

group Edem Oyo-Ita said the country had continent’s aviation sector continuing to the majority of the Nigerian population is Ethiopian Airlines launch of flights to

much to benefit from SAATM than any other underperform on the global stage. mobile. So, these countries are just making Marseille, its second destination in France,

country on the continent. “SAATM’s backers like IATA contend that a feast out of Nigeria while at the same time began in July. Q

According to him, the liberalisation of air by enabling carriers to fly direct between making it difficult for Nigerian airlines to go

transport is an opportunity for domestic two regional cities without flying via their into their countries,” he said.

airlines as well as the industry to grow. home hub will drive growth for the conti- For Ojuri, the Federal Government needs

“Bilateral Air Services Agreements have nent while boosting economic integration to engage all stakeholders to identify their AIRLINES INDIA - AFRICA CONNECT

been streamlined in line with the SAATM. and intraregional connectivity,” he said. concerns and address them.

We should expect more countries to fly into He said IATA research on African air He said there should be a gradual process af-

Nigeria as well as Nigerian airlines flying into liberalisation had shown that if just 12 key ter the government and legislature had taken Ababa-Bengaluru service on October 27, the the important ICT hub of Bengaluru to the

their countries,” he said. African countries opened their markets and time to develop a robust and well-established first non-stop connection between South ever-expanding Ethiopian network," said

SAATM is a flagship project of the African increased connectivity, it could create extra regulatory framework, which should have ir connectivity between India and India and continental Africa. Tewolde GebreMariam, group CEO, Ethiopi-

Union Agenda 2063, an initiative to create 155,000 jobs and generate an additional clear objectives, fair competition provisions AAfrica has got a boost with three Over 80 per cent of the traffic between India an Airlines. The airline hopes to tap student

a single unified and liberalised air transport (US) $1.3bn in annual gross domestic prod- and taxation policies for all countries. new services to Ethiopia, Kenya and Tan- and Africa flies via a hub and direct connec- and medical tourism traffic between India

uct in those countries.
market on the continent. To address the negative effects, accord- tions are limited. Currently there are non-stop and Africa. Ethiopian Airlines could provide

It was adopted by the AU Assembly in Ojuri said that apart from airlines, the ing to him, it is expedient for the govern- zania. Around two million passengers flew flights from India to only seven countries in easy connections to other cities in South

2015 as a way of implementing the Ya- open skies policy would also provide ment through its regulatory agencies such between India and Africa in twelve months Africa which includes the islands of Mauritius India via Bengaluru.

opportunities for other service providers

moussoukro Decision of 1999 that provides as the NCAA, Consumer Protection Council ending May, a growth of four per cent over and Seychelles. South Africa, Mauritius, Egypt, "We see a lot of business traffic between

for full liberalisation in terms of market ac- within Nigeria’s aviation ecosystem such as and other related Ministries, Departments the previous year. Kenya and Nigeria are the key destinations on India and Africa. The visiting friends and

cess among African states; the free exercise ground handlers, inflight service providers, and Agencies to ensure that the implemen- Air Tanzania introduced a thrice-weekly the continent. South Africa is the largest desti- relatives travel segment is also strong given

of traffic rights; the elimination of restric- fuel marketers and airport operators. tation of SAATM is done in a responsible service between Mumbai and Dar es Salaam nation for Indians and around 800 passengers the Indian diaspora in the continent. The new

tions on ownership and the full liberalisa- However, domestic operators are not favour- and sustainable manner that clearly bene- in July, establishing the first direct con- fly between two countries daily. However flights will increase access and may lower

tion of frequencies, fares and capacities. ably disposed to the idea as, according to them, fits all African countries. Q nection between the two countries since there are no direct flights. fares. Africa is a niche and expensive destina-

Inaugurated in January 2018, Nigeria was they cannot see the benefit from SAATM. Article courtesy: https://punchng.com/ 2010. Air India is resuming flights between "Ethiopian Airlines is a significant player tion and the new connections will facilitate

among the champion states that declared The operators said unresolved issues in fg-reviews-air-agreement-with-27-african- Mumbai and Nairobi from September-end in connecting India with Africa and beyond. more leisure travel," said Rakshit Desai, man-

their commitment to establish SAATM the industry would overshadow the gains countries/ and Ethiopian Airlines is launching an Addis The new four-weekly flights will connect aging director of FCM Travel Solutions. Q
World Airnews | September 2019 World Airnews | September 2019
— 58 — — 59 —