AFCAC additionally disclosed that the SAATM implementation in Nigeria will enhance the aviation sector’s contribution to GDP from the current 0.5% to 1% and boost air traffic by 54%.
Speaking during the SAATM Pilot Implementation Project cluster one coalition roadshow in Abuja, AFCAC Secretary General Funke Adeyemi predicted that the open market agreement would hasten aviation connectivity throughout Africa.
The roadshow, according to her, intended to bring all interested parties together to identify obstacles to air connectivity throughout the continent and develop doable plans to integrate and improve connection.
She noted that protectionism and airline operators who are unwilling to access the market due to competition are some of the obstacles preventing States from implementing SAATM smoothly. She added that competition and connection were essential for the expansion of the aviation industry.
State limits, visa accessibility, and delayed approval for landing are a few other difficulties.
Adeyemi revealed that the committee would visit several nations to address some of the SAATM’s difficulties and determine how to effect change.
By 2025, she claimed, the goal was to raise fifth freedom penetration from its present 14.5 percent level to 30 percent.
Hadi Sirika, the minister of aviation, opened the roadshow by stating that the Federal Government would continue to support policies and programs that would project and support the full implementation of SAATM in Nigeria. He did this by stating that the sub-Saharan African air transport market presents a stark dichotomy.
He stated that the domestic and foreign markets, which are getting more and more consolidated, are dominated by African carriers.
In contrast, the industry in Central and Western Africa is stalling as a result of the void left by the closure of the majority of State-owned and a few privately-owned airlines in the region.
He continued by saying that Nigeria was preparing to launch its national carrier, which would aid in putting the SAATM’s policies and values into practice in Nigeria and throughout Africa.
Capt. Nuhu Musa, director general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), noted that when SAATM was introduced in Dakar last year, 16 nations agreed to take part; this number has since risen to 20.
The first-of-its-kind roadshow, according to him, was held in Nigeria to inform stakeholders about the difficulties they were experiencing with the implementation of SAATM so that AFCAC could look into mechanisms like fair competition, dispute resolution, and consumer protection mechanisms to address the problems.
He emphasized the necessity for countries who have committed to implementing SAATM to get started so that other nations will join in once they see the impact on the GDP and the creation of jobs.
He continued by saying that the African Civil Aviation would seek to designate and provide the right to the fifth freedom, which entails transporting passengers from country A to country B before picking them up in country C.
