IATA emphasises need to allow aviation drive economy, social development in Africa

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has identified four priority areas it wants governments and industries  in Africa to focus on  to allow aviation to drive economic and social development on the continent, enrich people’s lives and enable the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The four priority areas are safety, cost-competitiveness, opening the continent to travel and trade, and gender diversity.

In a keynote speech at the 51st Annual General Assembly of the African Airline Association (AFRAA) in Mauritius, IATA’s Director General and CEO, Alexandre de Juniac declared: “Across the African continent, the promise and potential of aviation is rich. Already it supports USD 55.8 billion in economic activity and 6.2 million jobs.

“And, as demand more than doubles over the next two decades, the critical role that aviation plays in Africa’s economic and social development will grow in equal proportion. With the right tax and regulatory framework, the opportunities aviation creates to improve people’s lives are tremendous,”

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Highlighting three priorities to improve aviation safety in Africa, IATA said more states needed to incorporate the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) into their safety oversight systems, saying Mozambique, Rwanda, Togo and Zimbabwe had done so.

The association called on smaller operators to consider becoming IATA Standard Safety Assessment (ISSA)-certified, which provides a valuable operational benchmark for carriers not eligible for IOSA.

Equally, IATA advised African states to implement ICAO standards and recommended practices in their regulations as presently, only 26 states meet or exceed the threshold of 60 per cent implementation.

“Our top priority is always safety. And we must never forget that global standards have helped to make aviation the safest form of long-distance transport. There is a good example of that in the safety performance of African airlines. The continent had no fatal jet accidents in 2016, 2017 and 2018. That is largely due to the coordinated efforts of all stakeholders with a focus on global standards, guided by the Abuja Declaration. But there is still more work to do. Taking these three steps will raise the safety bar even higher,” said de Juniac.

Nigerian Tribune