Uganda is keen to sign the Single Africa Air Transport Market protocol, ending years of fence-sitting.
Authorities in Kampala indicated this
week that the Uganda will join the open skies regime in the next financial
year.
“We are left with approval by Cabinet.
Once that is done, we will be good to go,” said Fred Bamwesigye,
director-general of Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCCA) at a meeting in
Kampala.
Mr Bamwesigye, who represented Works
and Transport Minister Gen Edward Katumba Wamala, said Uganda’s reluctance to
join the Single Africa Air Transport Market (SAATM) since its launch in 2018
was due to a need to shield its national carrier from competition.
Other considerations were invest in and
build new infrastructure such as the Kabalega International Airport, to support
traffic numbers resulting from liberalisation; improve Entebbe International
Airport to requisite standards as well as reorient the regulatory regime, which
was inward-looking.
“The idea to join has always been positive, but we had to
first streamline our internal processes so that we go there when we are ready,”
he said.
“Now, we have an airline, and we must enable it to get more
frequencies through SAATM. Uganda Airlines is flying to Nigeria, Mumbai, South
Africa, the UAE… So, why not?”
Danny Barongo, director for safety, security and economic
regulation at UCCA, said internal processes included three consultative
meetings with stakeholders and with continental industry regulator to draft an
agreement.
Accession to the “solemn commitment” would see Uganda ease
past Tanzania, whose government has indicated that it will not join the
liberalised air space plan for another five years, but it will still lag behind
Kenya, Rwanda and 13 other African countries which, last year, agreed to launch
and pilot SAATM flights.
Aviation expert Adikiny Olwenge, who is also the team leader
for air transport at the Comesa, says there are benefits for airline operators
as it opens up routes through 5th Freedom, which increases air transport
connectivity.
Due to the limited number of operators, this benefit is not
trickling down to the passengers because of the dominant nature of such
airlines, but only liberalisation that can assure new entrants that they will
realise healthy competition since SAATM has the necessary instruments to
control competition.
For now, even among the 37 countries that have signed up to
the single air space regime, the same deep-seated fears and protectionism
abound.
“Most of the countries that have acceded to SAATM have the
notion that it SAATM will kill their national airlines. That’s why we are
having the awareness programme for countries in Eastern Africa, Southern Africa
and Indian Ocean regions,” Mr Olwenge said.
Industry experts cite the example of Morocco, which opened
up its air space to Europe and was hit hard at first, but in the long run
traffic into the North Africa nation improved, and it reaped the benefits.
An open skies scheme is crucial to easing intra-Africa’s
connectivity, lower airfare and improve traffic and revenues.
The regime’s goal is to fully implement the 1999
Yamoussoukro Declaration, which allows participating countries to lift market
access restrictions for airlines, remove restriction on ownership, grant each
other extended air traffic rights and liberalize flight frequency and capacity
limits.
It also seeks to harmonise safety and security regulations
in aviation, based on International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)
requirements.
Without an open air space regime in place, African countries
have been relying on bilateral air services agreements to operate, presenting
challenges of concluding multiple negotiations between several countries.
By JULIUS BARIGABA More by this Author