Online Reporter
Herald Reporter
A DELEGATION from the African Civil Aviation Commission arrived in the country this week for the Single African Air Transport Market Pilot Implementation Project Airshow, which Zimbabwe is hosting as part of efforts to liberalise intra-African skies.
SAATM is a flagship African Union project aimed at removing market access restrictions and permitting the free exercise of fifth‑freedom traffic rights across the continent.
The delegation, led by AFCAC director of Air Transport, Mr Getachew Mengistie Alemayehu, yesterday paid courtesy calls on Deputy Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Dr Omphile Marupi and Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development Joshua Sacco.
In an interview after their engagement, Deputy Minister Marupi said: “We are really happy as a country to have received a delegation from SAATM that is moving around Africa to see to it that as African countries, we try by all means to market ourselves, we try by all means to see to it that what we are doing in travel and tourism is done with the satisfaction of the local market.
“We have seen new routes being introduced locally, for example Harare-Mutare.
“We are also talking of the exciting reintroduction of the Harare-London route that for quite some time was redundant and the population is happy because locally, we have seen a lot of people becoming interested in using air travel, which is in tandem with international standards, and driven by the Second Republic’s mantra of leaving no one and no community behind.”
He added that domestic tourism would benefit from the new air routes, given that many people have now embraced air travel.
Deputy Minister Sacco reaffirmed Zimbabwe’s commitment to becoming Southern Africa’s leading implementer of SAATM, highlighting that the country had already aligned its Bilateral Air Services Agreements with SAATM principles to promote a liberalised air transport market.
He was accompanied by Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) board members, CAAZ director general Mr George Mashababe, chairperson Mrs Nonkosi Ncube, and Mr Edmund Murambiwa Makona, who is the SAATM SADC ambassador.
“Zimbabwe has already achieved significant SAATM implementation milestones, including aligning its Bilateral Air Services Agreements with SAATM principles to promote a liberalised air transport market and facilitate fifth‑freedom traffic rights,” said Deputy Minister Sacco.
He noted that Government is reviewing aviation taxes, fees and charges to improve the ease of doing business, attract investment, enhance route viability and make air travel more affordable.
The Deputy Minister emphasised that liberalised air transport is a strategic driver of tourism, trade, investment and regional integration, contributing to the attainment of Vision 2030 and the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2).
The main meeting is scheduled for today under the theme: “Acceleration of air transport liberalisation in Africa to improve continental connectivity and integration.”
According to CAAZ, the full implementation of the Yamoussoukro Decision and SAATM remains a critical enabler for the sustainable development of air transport in Africa and constitutes a cornerstone of the recovery and resilience strategy for the aviation industry in the post‑Covid‑19 era.
The Pilot Implementation Project, which currently involves 24 states, was launched on 14 November 2022 during the 23rd Yamoussoukro Decision Day anniversary event in Dakar, Senegal, by 14 African Ministers of Transport and Aviation.
The goal is to improve fifth‑freedom traffic operations across Africa from the current level of 23 percent to 30 percent by 2027.
A study on the continental benefits of SAATM implementation projects that intra‑Africa traffic volume will increase by 51 percent within two to three years, with all African union member states expected to experience traffic increases.
