Ebola must not halt airlines, Iata urges

West Africa needs connectivity, says WHO

AFRICAN airlines should not stop services because of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, the International Air Transport Association (Iata) said at its Aviation Day Africa yesterday.

Iata said the World Health Organisation (WHO) had said aviation constituted a low risk for Ebola transmission, and Ebola-hit regions actually needed guaranteed connectivity to the rest of the world to fight the disease.

Iata’s call comes after Kenya Airways said it would stop flights to Sierra Leone and Liberia from today. Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea are at the centre of the outbreak. The decision had been made on the advice of Kenya’s health ministry, the airline said.

Other airlines have stopped flights to Ebola-affected countries: Togo’s Asky Airlines, Gambia’s Gambia Bird and Nigeria’s Arik Air. Cameroon airlines will not fly to any state with an Ebola case, Public Health Minister Andre Mama Fouda said on Saturday.

Raphael Kuuchi, Iata’s vicepresident for Africa, said yesterday the WHO’s call for connectivity had to be upheld: “They have been very clear that travel and trade bans are unnecessary. Unless this advice changes we hope countries working hard to eradicate Ebola continue to benefit from air connectivity.”

Halting services runs contrary

to a decision made yesterday by members of Iata’s African airlines group, to adopt recommendations in a report commissioned by Iata on aviation market liberalisation. The report was written by global tourism, travel and aviation consultants InterVistas.

“This report shows that open skies (liberalisation) and aviation alliances in Africa would be a tool to boost African economies. Open aviation in other continents has led to gross domestic product growth and job creation, and the same must happen in Africa,” Mr Kuuchi said.

African airlines were expected to return a profit of $100m this year, with a net margin of 0.8%, the lowest of all aviation regions, Raul Villaron, African market manager at aircraft manufacturer Embraer, said.

The InterVistas report looked at the benefits of implementing the 1988 Yamoussoukro declaration on liberalisation of air transport in 12 African states.

The InterVistas report said benefits included 5-million extra passengers a year for African airlines overall, the creation of 155,000 extra jobs and a $1.3bn injection to the continent’s gross domestic product. These benefits would be realised in the year after the 12 countries had completed liberalisation of air transport between them.