Friday June 30, 2017
Comesa secretary-general Sindiso Ngenywa addressing members of the COMESA during the 9th meeting of the management committee of the regional customs transit on May 5, 2016 /FILE
The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa has renewed calls for liberalisation of airspace policies within the 19-member bloc to enhance security and efficiency, and also deepen regional integration.
Comesa experts meeting in Kigali for the bloc’s three-day Airspace Integration Project which ended yesterday said there was an urgent need for the bloc to adopt a seamless upper airspace to improve performance in safety, efficiency, cost effectiveness and environmental impact. This will increase the region’s global competitiveness, they argued.
Airlines in Africa are reporting huge losses largely due to poor policies in the continent’s airspace. Last year, for example, the losses were estimated at $800 million (Sh82.94 billion), according to Aviation Africa Report 2017.
The Comesa Airspace Integration Project was mooted at the Heads of States Summit in Djibouti in 2006 and received $8.6 million (Sh891.65 million) funding from the African Development Bank in 2011. The project has been reviewing studies which include development of suitable legal and institutional requirements to establish a cooperative regional framework for a single seamless airspace
It has, for example, proposed the replacement of the current Ground Based Air Navigation Aids with a more cost effective Satellite Based Air Navigation Technology commonly referred to as Communication Navigation or Air Traffic Management
The new system allows air traffic services from a single control centre to cover large areas, thereby facilitating rationalisation of investments in infrastructure and equipment.
“It will enhance safety and flow for general air traffic across the area of the seamless upper airspace, thus optimizing capacity and the environmental impact hence meeting the requirements of all airspace users whilst enhancing efficiency,” Comesa assistant secretary-general Kipyego Cheluget said in a statement.
He decried many hurdles that are placed on the way of a liberalised airspace which, he added, makes the African region the most difficult for investments in air travel.
A recent World Bank report described aviation in Africa as the most troubled in the world. It blamed this on lack of cooperation among states and protectionism policies by members.