Freeing the skies

A stakeholders' conference on the implementation of the Yamoussoukro Decision on the liberalisation of access to the air transport markets in Africa on Friday, 7th November 2008 in Accra agreed to accelerate the liberalisation of the markets for West and Central Africa.

The two-day conference, which was attended by Ministers of Aviation from the two regions, donors, development partners and other stakeholders, consequently directed the Commissions of ECOWAS and the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) to strengthen the institutional framework laid down in the Memorandum of Understanding for the implementation of the Decision.

The meeting agreed to include the improvement of air services between and within ECOWAS and CEMAC states, the protection of the interest of the users of air transport services, the support of government and private initiatives in the creation of regional airlines as well as capacity building and resource mobilisation as some of the initiatives to accompany its implementation.

It also agreed to institute measures and policies that will address the high attrition rates of skilled personnel within their civil aviation authorities, airlines and the industry at large as well as the harmonisation of air transport legislation of the various states to ensure smooth implementation of the Decision.

Push for global approach

In addition, they urged the African Union Commission and African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC) to engage the European Commission in a bid to push for a global approach to air transport liberalisation while promoting fairness, transparency and dialogue on the issue.

The Council concluded that the implementation of the Decision needed significant infusion of resources to carry out its action plan and therefore called on States to make efforts to settle their financial contributions to regional bodies while development partners should enhance their support.

Participants had examined the reports of the 4th meeting of the Harmonisation Committee as well as the 5th meeting of the Coordination & Monitoring Committee and agreed that Member States should take measures to adopt before the end of 2009, additional common regulations for the implementation of the Yamoussoukro Decision.

They also reviewed seven resolutions relating to the adoption of common economic regulations, liberalisation of air transport, aviation safety and security, creation of autonomous civil aviation administrations in Member States of the two regions, capacity building in civil aviation and air transport.

Moreover, they agreed on the extension of the mandate for the Harmonisation Committee and the facilitation of the operation of the two regional airlines (ASKY and AIR CEMAC) and accelerate the creation of autonomous civil aviation authorities so as to enable them efficiently carry out their safety and security oversight functions in line with ICAO's Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs).

Also at the meeting were chief executives and representatives from the Agency for the Safety of Air Navigation in Africa (ASECNA), the African Sky (ASKY), AIR CEMA, the African Union Commission (AU), the Banjul Accord Group (BAG), the Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa (UEMOA), the African Association Airlines (AFRAA), the African Civil Association Commission (AFCAC), the CEN-SAD, the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the African development Bank (ADB), the European Union (EU) and BOEING.

The meeting was co-organised by ECOWAS, CEMAC and Ghana's Ministry of Aviation.

Problems and challenges

Addressing the opening of the Accra meeting, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, said that civil aviation operation in Africa, particularly in the two regions, was characterised by fleets of obsolete carriers, inadequate capacities, lack of coordination between airlines, exorbitant air fares, and finally, the protectionist policy of Members States in favour of their airlines. These, he said, pose a major challenge to the image of the transport sector of the region as well as other parts of the continent.

“This is why in their wisdom, the Ministers of the 23 Members States responsible for civil aviation in the West and Central Africa did not hesitate to adopt the Decision relating to the implementation of the Yamoussoukro Declaration concerning the liberalisation of access to air transport markets in Africa as well as the Memorandum of Understanding on its implementation”, said Dr. Chambas.

Describing the Yamoussoukro Decision as the “remedy for the challenges of aviation in our region”, he urged the Council to de-emphasise States protectionism in granting air traffic rights in favour of an approach that will benefit all users of air transport services.

He called on the ministers to urgently grant air traffic rights, especially the fifth freedom rights, to all eligible companies that satisfy safety and security conditions while granting administrative and financial autonomy to civil aviation authorities in order to allow them to function better in the sector. He also asked them to reinforce the safety and security of the civil aviation and to create conducive environments for investments in the aeronautic industry and encourage private sector initiatives with regional dimension.

He also called on the aviation companies to harmonise their flight schedules as well as establish code-share among themselves as this will improve the regional schedules as well as their efficiency.

The Ghanaian Minister for Aviation who declared the meeting open also commented on the condition of most air services in the two regions which are characterized by poor quality of service, poor connectivity, unreliable schedules and prohibitive costs and tariffs. He stressed the need to accelerate the implementation of the Yamoussoukro Decision in the two regions.

Source: Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)