Open skies will lead to cheaper fares
ATP- Arab tourism portal – Liberalization of air services in Africa would have significant benefits for South Africa. Airlines would carry 800 000 more passengers, benefits for the consumer would rise to US$138 million (R1,7bn), 14 500 jobs would be created and it would mean $284 million (R3,5bn) increase in GDP.
This is according to a report titled ‘Transforming Intra-African Air Connectivity: The Economic Benefits of Implementing the Yamoussoukro Decision’, prepared for Iata in partnership with AFCAC and AFRAA.It was found that liberalizations encouraged an estimated 28% drop in average fares.
The report revealed that so far open-sky agreements would make flying more affordable, and would, in turn, have a direct impact on passenger numbers. For example, a 54% increase in passenger traffic in South Africa has been directly linked to liberalizations.
In 2000, South Africa and Kenya agreed to more liberal air service agreements. In 2004, the agreement was further liberalized, removing all restrictions on capacity.
After this liberalization, passenger volumes on the Johannesburg and Nairobi route increased by 69%.It was also noted that the operation of a low-cost carrier service between South Africa and Zambia (Johannesburg-Lusaka) resulted in a 38% reduction in fares, and a 38% increase in passenger traffic.
It is estimated that this traffic increase translated to 6 300 additional tourists into Zambia.Following liberalization, passenger numbers between Namibia and South Africa increased to 258 000, and also increased to 189 000 between Angola and South Africa.
The report also found there was a noticeable time saving on flights after liberalizations. A flight with one stop from Port Elizabeth to Windhoek, for example, takes about five to six hours. However, a direct flight (owing to liberalizations), is only two and a half hours long.
The implementation of liberalization has, however, presented its own challenges. Many African countries need to first make the legislative and regulatory changes necessary to achieve socio-economic growth before the Yamoussoukro Decision can be successfully implemented, the report said. “To a certain extent, the original declaration and subsequent Yamoussoukro Decision were ahead of their time, but political and economic shifts in Africa make it far more compelling than ever before,” says md of Plane Talking, Linden Birns.
