Airlines in Africa reported a loss of about $800 in 2016 largely due to regulation of African airspace, aviation experts have said.

Speaking to The New Times on Wednesday at the ongoing Aviation Africa 2017 forum, in Kigali, the experts said without liberalisation the continent’s airlines could make similar loss this year.  

Dr. Elijah Chingosho, the secretary General of African Airlines Association said this is a major stumbling block limiting growth and leading to closure of some airlines.

So far, he said about 17 African countries have moved to liberalise their airspaces but more still needs to be done to accelerate airlines growth across the continent.

In contrast, about 23 countries have entered open skies agreements with the United States which shows eagerness to enter partnerships with countries outside Africa.

Liberalisation of the airspace or an open skies policy would see African airlines access multiple countries at less cost which would in turn mean cheaper tickets and more connectivity among African countries.

On paper and in policy commitments, African countries have expressed interest to liberalise airspace but their verbal commitment has been slow to match actions.

In 1999, African ministers responsible for civil aviation adopted the Yamoussoukro declaration, where 44 signatory countries committed to deregulate air services, and promote regional air markets open to transnational competition.

In 2015 during the African Union summit, 11 countries pledged to deregulate their air spaces with six more coming on board in recent years.

Showing trends in the airline, Dr. Chingosho said that in the 1980s the continent had about 26 airlines which have come down to about 12 currently largely due to high costs.

"Non-liberalised airspaces make it expensive for African airlines, putting some of them out of business,” he said.

He said that in recent years, African airlines have been making huge losses despite profits in the global market.

In 2016, Chingosho said that in the global air transport profit was about $35.6 billion even when Africa reported huge losses.

"Such trends are worrying and we hope that they will not see the aviation industry end up closing like the shipping industry did largely due to such challenges,” he said.

Flight charges in African countries range between $40 to $120 per passenger which is way above the global average of about $25.

The costs are mostly concealed in taxes and often passed down to passengers, further pushing up the cost of air tickets.

The partial airspace liberalisation so far is reflected in profits for some airlines, Chingosho said, citing Ethiopian Airlines currently making profits.

The airline was said to have made a profit of about $270m in 2015 which Chingosho said could grow with more open skies.

The liberalisation will also see the continent linked inwards unlike current situation where airlines are more connected to other continents.

"At the moment, international airlines are making lots of profits within the continent due to open skies agreements they have with a number of African countries. For example Turkish Airlines operates in about 51 African countries which is far beyond any African airline,” he said.

Speaking from an industry perspective, RwandAir chief executive officer John Mirenge said that the lack of implementation of African open skies policy was hurting airlines by increasing the cost of operations and limiting profitability.

Mirenge said liberalisation would see operators increase their destinations, revenue and consequently bring down flight charges.

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