Uhuru roots for open airspaces to spur development

President Uhuru Kenyatta has urged African countries to open their airspaces, saying that would spur development on the continent.

He was speaking Monday during the opening of the 11th International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) conference in Nairobi.

Delegates from 70 countries are attending the five-day forum to negotiate and agree to air service terms in a move aimed at improving air travel and opening up markets.

Mr Kenyatta said the Kenyan government is committed to upholding the ICAO global aviation standards and supports the liberalisation of air transport in Africa.

RESERVATIONS

“Kenya is also committed towards the full realisation of the African Union’s Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) initiative that will see Africa converging into one air service market. To this end, Kenya is one of the 25 states that have so far signed up for SAATM,” Mr Kenyatta said.

SAATM promises to be key to the region’s economic empowerment. However, some countries like Uganda and Tanzania have reservations about opening up their air spaces to their neighbours.

Among the freedoms to be discussed are the right to overfly a country’s airspace without landing; the right to make technical stops without embarking or disembarking of passengers or cargo for purposes such as refuelling or other maintenance; the right to carry passengers or cargo from one's own country to another; the right to carry passengers or cargo from another country to one's own country; and the right to carry revenue traffic between foreign countries as a part of services connecting the airline's own country.