The Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) has made little headway since its introduction in January 2018, but last week 15 of the 35 member governments launched a cluster to trial the plan in the real world.
The Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) hasn’t changed much since it started in January 2018. However, 15 of the 35 signatory governments started a cluster this week to test the system in real-world settings.
Since both countries would be taking part in the tests, the announcement is a big boost for Kenya Airways, and South African Airways’ plans to start a new airline together. The new airline will have immediate and unrestricted access to important markets on the continent.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which has been working behind the scenes to launch SAATM in 2023, can also take pride in this accomplishment.
The historic choice, known as the SAATM Pilot Implementation Project, was made on November 14 by the African Civil Aviation Commission and brings together some of Africa’s more important air transport markets (AFCAC).
Ministers from Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, South Africa, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, and Zambia met in Dakar, Senegal, to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of the Yamoussoukro Decision, and they decided to start SAATM flights between their nations.
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The states are meant to deepen their agreement with SAATM
When the 15 states reconvene for this year’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Air Services Negotiation in Abuja on December 5, it is anticipated that they will further solidify their decision by adjusting their individual air service agreements to the SAATM regime.
The African Civil Aviation Commission says that the pilot markets were chosen because they were ready to take part and because they owned key tools that would make it possible for the skies over the whole continent to be completely open.
A recent analysis by the African Union on the potential advantages of SAATM implementation found that the continent would increase its GDP by $4.2 billion, create 596,000 new jobs, and reduce air fares by 27 per cent.
The study gave each member state a “preparedness” rating by looking at how well SAATM was put into action and how much the Yamoussoukro Decision (YD) was put into action. AFCAC says that these 15 states had an environment that was good for SAATM deployment.
According to the commission, 21 states have signed the memorandum of implementation for the operationalization of SAATM, and 35 member states have pledged to adopt SAATM without condition
Over 800 million people—or over 85%—of Africa’s 1.2 billion people live in the 35 states, according to estimates.
Although the Yamoussoukro Decision, which served as the forerunner of the SAATM, has technically been in effect since July 2000, when African heads of state and government endorsed it at their summit in Lomé, Togo, the continent’s skies have remained largely closed as a result of the use of bilateral air services agreements by most African nations.
Through the liberalization of scheduled and non-scheduled air transportation services and the elimination of all restrictions on traffic rights, capacity, and frequency between city pairs for all African airlines, the Yamoussoukro Decision aimed to improve connectivity and integration of Africa. But the continent has had difficulty making it a reality.
The commission now anticipates member states to align their individual air service agreements and for qualifying airlines to start expanding operations across the continent, according to AFCAC Secretary General Adefunke Adeyemi.
According to Adeyemi, “the inauguration of SAATM on January 28, 2018, as the first flagship project of the AU Agenda 2063, is regarded to represent a turning point towards the full deregulation of the air transport sector on the continent.
The pilot is meant to highlight the advantages and increase the trust of onlookers to open their air transportation markets completely.
The Solemn Commitment will be signed by member states who have not yet done so. “With the unveiling of this pilot project of ready and willing African states that have required SAATM implementation enablers and with the overall benefits associated with the liberalisation of the African air transport through the YD, including air transport’s contribution to the AFCFTA to facilitate intra-African trade, this will elicit the commitment of member states that have not yet signed the Solemn Commitment to sign up
Increase aviation travel in Africa
IATA Vice President for Africa and the Middle East Kamil Al Awadi said in a speech on the sidelines of the Aviation Africa 2022 summit in Kigali in September that he had committed the majority of his resources for 2023 to launching SAATM and increasing African aviation traffic to at least three per cent of the total global total.
According to him, expanding air travel within Africa would increase both domestic and international air traffic in addition to domestic traffic.
With only 1.9 per cent of worldwide traffic in 2019, aviation in Africa supported 7.7 million employment, half of which were direct, and $63 billion of the continent’s GDP.
“I want to see at least a 1% increase in these numbers the following year. If it rises, we are moving in the proper direction; if it falls, we are moving against the flow.
IATA will invest as many resources as it can to get the region up and running, he claims.
According to Kamil, the proportion of global aviation that belongs to Africa should be closer to 15%, considering its population and resources.
Create consensus His strategy is to persuade at least 15 nations to come to terms with the issues and concerns that are impeding the liberalization of the air traffic market and to develop a course-correcting action plan.
The focus of the discussion will be on illustrating to participants how easing travel restrictions like capacity limits and lowering taxes on the sector may stimulate traffic and produce a far better overall image.
“On every trip I go into Africa, I have to travel through another country in order to enter any country directly. It is a continent so cut off that it is simpler to leap out and then jump back in to get to the neighboring country,” Kamil remarked.
“I am pushing, and ideally by January 2023, we are starting to press all stakeholders with the objective to get some internal routes open so that you can move throughout Africa easily.”
