Africa’s sky potential high on intra-continent air travel

Connecting Europe and other countries of the world by air from Africa is easier compared to connecting the African continent just as opportunities now abound for airlines to close the gaps, writes WOLE SHADARE

 

Flying from London to Athens is not generally considered a massive undertaking. It is a given fact that the journey will be direct, take three-and-a-half hours, and Europeans would not require a visa.

 

The situation is more pathetic if you are to travel across Africa, where convoluted flight itineraries are unfortunately the norm.

A trip from Algeria to Cameroon, for instance, a journey the same length as London-Athens, has is no direct flight.

 

The fastest route via Istanbul takes 24 hours and involves three separate take-offs and landings. The less time-economical route can take up to 30 hours – half the time it took the Virgin Atlantic Global flyer to circumnavigate the globe.

 

Adding insult to injury, the flight from Algeria to Cameroon costs 80 per cent more than London-Athens.

 

 

A journey from Monrovia or Freetown to Cape Verde is another example; one would need to fly to Europe before connecting back to Africa, which ordinarily is less than three hours if one was to fly directly.

 

Sadly, the problems caused by an unconnected Africa are not limited to inconvenient travel schedules. Far bigger are the opportunity costs to the economies of the continent’s 54 nations and the region as a whole.

 

Trade and tourism are hindered and investment opportunities lost. And it’s not just about economy. Aviation connects people.

Africa would be a less fragmented continent with greater air connectivity. This lack of connectivity has created huge vacuum for any serious airline to exploit to the maximum.

 

Africa needs far more airlines to service the gaping interconnectivity problems while existing carriers increased capacity and expansion.

Medview ‘ s inaugural flights to Accra, Monrovia and Freetown brought excitement to travellers who yearned for strong connectivity with nations in West Africa and Africa as a whole following depletion of services by carriers, which showed promise at inception but ceased operations shortly after.

 

Flight services by the carrier have again rekindled hope of integration in the West Africa sub-region.

Air travel within West Africa is said to be cumbersome as travellers most times go to Europe or North Africa to connect flights back to the continent.

 

Speaking to Woleshadare.net at the Robertsfield International Airport, Monrovia, Special Representative of the President of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Commission in Liberia, Ambassador Tunde Ajisomo, said what Medview had done would deepen trade within the sub-region.

 

The visibly elated envoy said: “We welcome maiden flight of Medview to Monrovia and Sierra Leone would help to integrate the region.”

He disclosed that the plan to bring Medview to the cities started a year ago and thanked the people of Liberia for providing the facilities and logistics for making the dream come through.

 

“We said Medview needed to have an inroad into Monrovia and the Managing Director of the airline, Alhaji Muneer Bankole, did not hesitate.

 

We do not have enough flights within Africa. Most times, we first of all go to Casablanca, Morocco and it costs so much.” He thanked Liberia‘s President, Mrs. Sirleaf Johnson, for facilitating the operations.

 

He said the Liberian President was of the view that allowing Medview air services to Freetown would promote regional integration, trade and transform ECOWAS, with the choice of people moving freely from Liberia to Sierra Leone, Accra via Lagos.

 

His words: “I want to tell members of the media that we are trying to promote trade and the aviation industry promotes catalytical benefits. Leadership of ECOWAS is very happy with what is happening now. We look forward to having daily flight to Monrovia.”

 

The benefits of connectivity are clear. Europe’s air liberalisation was not only a coup for the industry but also passengers.

In the short space of eight years (1992-2000), the 100 year-old industry witnessed a surge in activity.

 

The number of direct flights between European countries increased by nearly 75 per cent. Passengers enjoyed 88 per cent more flight options and double the number of seats.

 

Suddenly, travelling by air became accessible to all, with a 15 per cent drop in ticket prices. A study by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) forecast that if just 12 of Africa’s economies opened their skies to one another, fares would drop by up to 35 per cent and an extra five million African’s could afford to fly.

 

An additional 155,000 new jobs would be created and $1.3 billion added to the GDP. These are impressive numbers for an industry that currently supports around seven million jobs and more than $80 billion in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) across the continent.

 

So why do barriers remain? While open skies pledges – 1988 Yamoussoukro Declaration and 1999 Yamoussoukro Decision – are being signed by most African countries, implementation has been unhurried and restricted.

 

Protectionist policies favouring national airlines remain abundant. This is unhelpful. The continent cannot take off economically while its runway is incomplete.

 

Governments in Africa need to treat aviation as a strategic asset and not as an instrument of foreign policy. Africa’s past has long been defined by national insularity; its future lies in liberalisation.

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