A single air transport market in Africa is set to be launched in January 2018, with 40 plus countries expected to be signatories by then, said David Kananga, head of the Transport and Tourism Division at the African Union (AU).
Addressing media on the sidelines of the 29th AU summit – currently under way in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – Kananga pointed out that to date 20 African countries had subscribed to an African single air market.
A single air transport market is one of the goals of AU's Agenda 2063, aiming to connect Africa through aviation and other transport infrastructure to achieve integration and boost intra-Africa trade.
Kananga said Africa had become the most expensive air transport market in the world because of individual nations' policies and regulations that hindered air connectivity.
He cited statistics by aviation consultancy firm Eurasia International showing that air transport in Africa was on average twice as expensive as the world average.
