Audrey D’Angelo
Africa was a continent ”revitalised by change” – but it would lose out on growing opportunities for tourism, trade and investment unless more of its countries abandoned their protectionism of loss-making national airlines and allowed others to compete, Bert van der Linden, Comair’s director for business development, said yesterday.
Comair and its low-cost rival, 1Time, both of which fly to a limited number of African destinations, have been trying for several years to increase the number of destinations they can get permission to serve.
But, although most countries have signed the Yamassoukro Agreement to open their borders to competition from other African airlines, only a few have done so.
SAA and SA Express have overcome this difficulty to some extent by forming successful partnerships with airlines in other African countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo.
SAA flies into several countries in west Africa, including Nigeria, Ghana and the Ivory Coast. But the majority of African governments continue to subsidise their national airlines and shut out competition.
So far neither Comair nor 1Time has entered partnerships although both have secured a few regional routes.
Van der Linden said that Comair’s franchise agreement with British Airways (BA) meant that, although it could enter into interline agreements to carry other airlines’ passengers in South Africa, it could not enter into partnerships enabling the partner to carry Comair passengers, unless the partner offered BA standards.
Rodney James, the managing director of 1Time, said that as a low-cost airline it was not easy to set up partnerships with full-service airlines. But there were several destinations it would like to serve.
Van der Linden said that, despite Africa’s size and population, it accounted for only 2 percent of the world air transport industry.
Annual passenger numbers were estimated at 40 million – only one-eighth of the world total, although there were about 300 registered airlines in the continent, directly employing about 500 000 people.
Local demand for air travel was low and most airlines were at least partly state-owned, with no competition.
As a result, the average African airline ran at a loss, incurring large debts.