EAC legislators want regional air travel localised to cut costs

Arusha. Questions abound as to whether the East African Community (EAC) countries will unanimously agree to domesticate their air travel.

An advice by the regional MPs to convert EAC air transport charges from international to domestic category is not likely to get an easy nod from governments.

The lawmakers believe the mechanism would significantly lower passenger airfares, lower tariffs on aircraft and cargo movements.

"In the spirit of Common Market, the air traffic movements within the EAC region should be converted from international to domestic category,” EALA members maintain in their oversight report on the aviation industry within EA.

Members of the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) maintained that the high cost of air travel was still a drawback in the EAC.

These include taxes paid by passengers on international departure in airports within the region such as passenger service charges and security and safety fees.

The DR Congo has the highest taxes and fee paid by passengers on international flights compared to six other member states.

The charges are $77 for DRC followed by $57 by Uganda, $54 (Tanzania), $50 each for Kenya and Rwanda and $40 for Burundi. Statistics from South Sudan were not available.

However, industry players do not see the proposal as having chances of it being agreed upon by all the member states, at least for now.

The EAC countries continue to employ protectionist measures to safeguard their airlines with intra-regional flights categorized as international.

Liberalisation of skies as required under the Yamoussoukro protocols are much more discussed than effected as is harmonization of air fees and charges.

"Partner states are currently carrying out national consultations with relevant transport stakeholders", the lawmakers were told.

The report by the Eala Committee on Communication, Trade and Investment followed an oversight activity to assess the progress of Cassoa, a civil aviation body.

The Civil Aviation Safety and Security Oversight Agency (Cassoa) is an institution of the EAC mandated to develop the civil aviation sector.

However, the MPs said despite what they see as having developed some technical manuals, Cassoa has not managed to tackle some challenges.

Its limited mandate does not allow enforcement of harmonized standards in the region largely blamed on bureaucracy.

The EAC region is still haunted by decline in revenues attributed to Covid-19 which led to decrease in civil aviation activities.

"Recovery is not yet at 100 percent of pre-pandemic activity levels,” the report said in part, noting that Covid related measures have affected compliance to aviation standards.

Delayed liberalization of air transport services, as expected, has made air transport expensive, amid the declining number of aviation experts.

Suleiman Said Shahbal, an Eala member from Kenya while tabling the report implored the EAC states to put in measures which will make air travel affordable.

“There is a need to explore strategies to make airfares affordable,” he said, urging states to finalize consultations on the same to lower the cost of air travel.

MP Gerald Blacks Siranda from Uganda, adding that it was far costlier to fly within EAC than to the United States.

“You fly from Kampala to Arusha at $480. And yet, I can fly from Washington to Dallas, and I am using $180,” he told the House.

The outspoken lawmaker from Kenya David Ole Sankok said flying from Entebbe to Dubai was cheaper than travelling from Entebbe to Nairobi.