Reduce taxes on airlines, African governments told

A Kenya Airways plane. Aviation operators have asked African governments to reduce the cost of doing business in the sector [Image: Courtesy]

Stakeholders in the African aviation industry are set to intensify efforts to reduce the crippling high cost of doing business in the sector that is giving undue advantage to operators from other regions.

Leaders as well as aviation operators and service providers who recently converged at Balaclava, Mauritius floated recommendations to African governments to reduce taxes and fees imposed on airlines.

They also asked the governments to make efforts to expedite the repatriation of airline earnings currently piling up in foreign capitals to mother countries.

African Airlines Association (AFRAA) Secretary General Mr Abderahmane Berthé joined Mauritius Deputy Prime Minister Mr Ivan Collendavelloo in exhorting African Governments to work together in reducing barriers that are adversely affecting the aviation industry.

“We must work together or we will fail together,” said Mr Collendavelloo. “We must take into account the needs of each country,” he added.

Mr Berthé on his part observed that the primary purpose of the Mauritius Convention, the eighth of its kind was to establish lasting relationships and partnerships between aviation stakeholders and airlines on the continent for the benefit of the struggling African aviation industry.

He said it would take rigorous efforts and close coordination by governments, regulatory authorities, airports, air navigation providers, aviation product suppliers and other stakeholders to achieve a successful and viable aviation industry on the continent.

“The purpose of this convention is to establish lasting relationships and partnerships between aviation stakeholders and airlines for the benefit of African Aviation,” reiterated Mr Berthé.

Air Mauritius Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mr Somas Appavou described Africa as a continent of boundless opportunities with double digit growth rates in many countries and a fast expanding middle class.

Noted Mr Appavou: “our continent has become the new ‘promised land’ for the development of air travel, yet we are hardly scratching the surface of that opportunity.”

He urged aviation industry partners in Africa to “take advantage of these emerging openings to overcome challenges together as a way of leveraging each other’s strengths and leapfrogging the many barriers that no single player can surmount individually.” 

The two-day convention examined cutting edge ideas fueled by technology, industry best practices, new opportunities and practical solutions to problems.

Also high in the agenda of the convention were the often mooted single African air transport market, mitigating the cyber security threat, building cyber resilience, improving load factors and increasing yields and profitability.