South African President Thabo Mbeki has told African transport ministers that he is “concerned” about the high concentration of air-traffic accidents on the continent.
Speaking at the opening ceremony on Wednesday of a summit of African Union ministers responsible for air transport and aviation being held at Sun City, in South Africa’s North West province, he said a recent analysis of global airliner accident statistics for 2004 found that although it had been a safe year for air transport in general, there was reason for concern in Africa.
“It is alarming that, although the continent accounts for about 3% of world aircraft departures, Africa witnesses 27% of all fatal accidents on its soil.”
Mbeki said he is aware that Africa has committed itself to reducing the accident rate by 50% by 2015, “but this requires steadfast decisions in the areas of upper airspace management, maintenance and operations on the ground; the phasing out of certain types of ageing aircraft, probably mostly in the cargo and air-freighter categories; [and] improving air-traffic navigation infrastructure and services”.
“International organisations like Icao [the International.Civil Aviation Organisation] and Iata [the International Air Transport Association] likewise require that we react as member states to a number of international initiatives around safety in the air and security in the aviation sector generally.”
Mbeki also expressed concern at the practice of African countries to import second-hand “older-generation aircraft” to boost their air-transport capacity.
“Yet, we find that the same aircraft are banned from European or American airspace for environmental reasons. What sometimes looks like a solution may, in fact, turn into somewhat of a trap.”
Mbeki said: “Of critical importance to us all, is the ability of Africa’s own institutions to build the necessary capacity and respect due to them so that they can fulfil their functions adequately.”
He said the financial well-being of the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC) is a prerequisite for its administrative and operational health.
The AFCAC was established in June 1947 as a specialised agency of the then Organisation of African Unity to encourage cooperation in all civil aviation activities in Africa. South Africa has been a member of AFCAC since September 1994.
Mbeki noted that Africa has “over 4 000 airports of one kind or another, but a large number of these are not designed or suitable for modern jet aircraft. Even cargo capacity is restrained in many instances by the inadequate operations on the ground.
“On the whole, we expect this summit to deliberate in a constructive and practical manner around these issues … and of developing an Africa-wide consensus on issues affecting air safety, security and environment, and, of course, of strengthening our institutional ability to accomplish all of these things.” — I-Net Bridge