Africa sets ambitious aviation safety target

African airlines must improve their safety record – and that means improving standards and operating environments, says International Air Transport Association (Iata) CEO Tony Tyler. “The safety statistics make the point. Globally airlines averaged one accident for every five million flights in 2010 on Western-built jet aircraft. Africa lost one jet for every 270 000 flights.” He said looking at accidents involving all aircraft types and levels of damage there were 75 in total in 2012 across the globe. “Of this 13 were in Africa. Africa comprises about 3% of global traffic but accounts for 17% of the accidents.” Tyler said this pointed to Africa having a safety problem. “And it is a problem that must be fixed. What is welcoming is that African governments are making aviation safety a priority. African ministers for transport have adopted the Abuja Declaration and the Aviation Safety Improvement Action Plan for Africa. This commits African aviation stakeholders – government and industry – to achieve a safety performance on par with the global average by the end of 2015.” Commending this, Tyler said the completion of an Iata Operational Safety Audit (Iosa) by all African carriers was part of the commitment made in this action plan. “Getting all African carriers onto the Iosa directory by 2015 will be a challenge. Our strategy, however, is to work directly with the carriers not on the registry to help them prepare. Ten airlines have already been identified that we will begin with.” Iata’s approach to safety – helping airlines meet transparent global standards – contrasts heavily with that of the European Union that has created a list of banned carriers – most of which are from Africa. “Despite the good safety performance of many African airlines, the reputational damage of the banned list somehow extends across Africa.” Tyler said Iata remained of the opinion that safety concerns in Africa could be addressed successfully as a clear connection has been identified between safety performance and Iosa registration meaning “world-class safety is possible in Africa”. He maintained that improving safety standards was imperative for the continent’s aviation industry. “The global airline industry produces $2.2 trillion in economic activity and employs 57 million people. Put in an African context that is 6.7 million jobs and $68 billion in revenues. It is a substantial industry.” CAPTION Tony Tyler ... a clear connection has been identified between safety performance and Iosa registration.