KIGALI, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Rwandan president Paul Kagame on Wednesday urged African countries to open up airspace to make it easy for travelers, businesses and operators to move across the continent.
"Protectionism of airspace among ourselves is a short-sighted policy, which only serves to keep our continental market fragmented, inefficient, and expensive, thereby reducing opportunities for African firms," Kagame said at the opening of the 4th Aviation Africa Summit and Exhibition in Kigali, capital city of Rwanda.
It is important to attract more African countries to join the Single African Air Transport Market, and to fully implement its provisions in order to reduce the cost of travel and doing business in Africa, he said.
Sixteen countries in Africa are landlocked, which is almost one-third of Africa, according to him.
Liberalization of airspace means many more high-quality jobs for African pilots, engineers and service personnel, he said.
Protectionism, which has been sustaining local carriers, has impeded the growth of the aviation industry in Africa,
Adefunke Adeyemi, Regional Director for Member and External Relations of the International Air Transportation Association (IATA), said that in Africa, air transport supports 6.2 million jobs and 55.8 billion U.S. dollars of GDP, but these figures can be much bigger if African countries liberalize their airspace.
Air service liberalization leads to increased air service levels and lower fares, which in turn stimulates air travels, tourism and overall economic growth, she added.
The two-day summit brings together about 800 participants including airline executives, government officials, policymakers, civil aviation authorities, and business aviation and support industries from across Africa and beyond.
It seeks to find a common a ground towards addressing issues surrounding safety and professionalism of aviation sector in Africa.
