LAGOS – The adoption of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) by African governments and the continent’s airways would function a catalyst to the expansion of the aviation trade in Africa and improve its contributions to the Gross Home Product (GDP).
Capt. Edward Boyo, the African Union (AU) African Civil Aviation Fee (AFCAC) Ambassador for West Africa said this over the weekend on the sidelines of Overland Airways inaugural flight to Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Boyo, who can be the Chief Government Officer (CEO) of Overland Airways, described SAATM as a phenomenon, wanted to develop Africa’s economic system and connectivity.
He declared that the adoption of the programme would additionally result in much less obstructions to airways and plane operations on the continent.
For example, Boyo declared that the Lagos-Freetown route launch was buoyed by the adoption of SAATM by the Sierra Leonean authorities.
He mentioned: “SAATM is what we have to make Africa develop. With a single air transport market, there can be extra connections, competitors and when there may be competitors, costs would come down. There will likely be much less taxes for air transport.
“What makes air transport costly isn’t just the gasoline and the plane put on and tear, it is usually the taxes as a result of lots of people usually are not travelling and the federal government spends some huge cash on infrastructure to which they have to get better.
“For example, just one particular person travels to Sierra Leone and he has to pay hundred leones to take care of its airport infrastructure and just one particular person that’s travelling should pay the 100 Leone in complete by himself, however with SAATM, all of us right here can journey and the 100 Leone is shared to a thousand travellers. With this, we’re going to pay virtually a penny to the Sierra Leonean authorities.”
Boyo challenged the governments to mobilise one and different and share the deserves of SAATM in order that the programme may very well be a hit.
He, nonetheless, talked about distrust amongst African governments and airways as a few of the causes they have been reluctant to embrace the AU scheme.
“They’re afraid of letting go of the sky and the sky was given to us freed from cost by God. So, we’ll carry on advocating that each the governments and airways ought to come collectively.
“We’d like courageous Administrators-Basic like Madam Musayeroh Barrie, Director-Basic, Sierra Leone Civil Aviation Authority (SLCAA) of Sierra Leone to open up the airspace and the nation,” he added.
