It’s too late to try to create an integrated African airspace that can compete with the rest of the world, according to Comair CEO Erik Venter.
Speaking at the 10th anniversary event of the Transport Forum Special Interest Group in Johannesburg last week, he said every country in Africa wanted to control its own airspace, and have its own policies and air strategy, which contributed to historic aviation safety issues.
“Governments are not prepared to talk to each other and compromise on setting common standards, including in training and air traffic control.
“Twenty-eight years after Yamoussoukro, we still don't have common understanding of who will be approved as registered African carriers. We also don’t know how competition authorities will regulate the different carriers,” he said.
“The development of an African airline training organisation hasn't gone far yet, but is showing great potential to set standards.”
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Africa remains the worst performing region in the world in terms of airline performance, and is still a target of prohibitive taxes and airport charges. Current domestic airport charges in Lusaka, for example, total $221 compared to R168 in South Africa.
