Taxes keep planes airborne

South African Airways is just one of at least nine state-owned airlines on the continent to depend on government bailouts to keep it flying, according to the CAPA centre for aviation. It estimates that floundering airlines are costing African taxpayers around US$2.5 billion a year. “In most cases Africa’s national carriers suffer at the hands of government mismanagement and interference,” says CAPA. Government intervention serves to distort the market and to keep out competition which would help drive down the costs of airfreight and air travel on the continent, it argues. A notable exception is the state-owned Ethiopian Airlines, which is Africa’s fastest-growing and most profitable airline, according to Iata.