The roll-out of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) has been slow because African governments appear to have only a narrow perspective of what it means for their market.
This was explained by Aaron Munetsi, CEO of the Airlines Association of Southern Africa, who was addressing delegates at last week’s African Aviation Summit 2024 held at Sandton Convention Centre.
“Depending on which element of SAATM governments or a particular airport authority is looking at, that is what they are focusing on and saying ‘this is what SAATM is about’. In reality, SAATM is about a lot of different things that all come down to liberalisation.”
According to Munetsi, connectivity and the competitiveness of Africa’s airlines are central to SAATM’s strategy, as currently, this is lacking.
“We don’t have enough intra-Africa connectivity, let alone connectivity beyond Africa’s borders… Africa’s airlines must be able to compete and co-operate amongst…
