African airlines need to become more active in the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA’s) regional safety and flight operations groups (which are action oriented), IATA regional VP Africa and the Middle East Kamil Alawadhi has urged. IATA is the global representative body for the airline industry and he was addressing the fifty-fifth annual general meeting of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA), in Entebbe, Uganda.

He described the current participation by African carriers in these groups as “weak”. He highlighted that it was necessary for African airlines to be more strongly involved, in order to drive an agenda that better suited them. “I urge AFRAA/IATA members to be part of the forums that discuss and debate to drive our activities under the governance of the highest levels at IATA.”

Regarding aviation safety in Africa, this had seen “marked improvements” overall, and also, more specifically, with regard to air traffic management, navigation and surveillance. But, “our goal as an industry is to always improve”.

“Our associations share a common vision – the development of a safe, secure and sustainable aviation industry in Africa that facilitates business, trade and tourism and contributes positively to Africa’s economic growth and development,” he stressed. “The continent is home to the world’s most rapidly growing population but accounts for just 2% of air passenger and cargo transport activity.”

He pointed out that all IATA-member airlines were on the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) registry, while all AFRAA-member airlines were either on the IOSA registry or on that of the IATA Standard Safety Assessment (ISSA). The ISSA covers small-scale operators of small (usually single engine) aircraft.

Earlier this year, IATA announced its Focus Africa Initiative, in which AFRAA was an “absolutely instrumental” partner. One of the areas covered by the initiative is safety. Important in this area is the Collaborative Aviation Safety Improvement Programme. This is aimed at reducing the accident and serious incident rate and improving operational safety across the continent. It will do so by means of collaboration between ten partners, from across the industry, to pool resources and prioritise the areas that need attention.

Global safety initiatives are also relevant to Africa, and Africa is relevant to them.

“With your help we are creating the world’s most comprehensive database for aviation safety through our Global Aviation Data Management programme,” cited Alawadhi. “I encourage every airline to contribute its data. By contributing, you’ll enable us to have the complete picture of safety performance, assisting you evaluate your own operations, and for IATA to identify trends and emerging risks to prioritise actions for safety improvement.”