The cheery news that African Airlines are projected to make a profit, albeit small, in 2024 has brought excitement to the industry. Coming less than two years after the pandemic, this result speaks to the resilience of the African air transport market and the appetite for travel on the continent.

There is the prospect of higher profitability, if the continent’s airline sector can “overcome many challenges, not least of which are infrastructure deficiencies, high costs, onerous taxation, and the failure to broadly implement a continent-wide multilateral traffic rights regime,” said Kamil Alawadhi, IATA’s Regional Vice President for Africa and the Middle East.

The need for the continent to implement the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) continues to reverberate at various fora as it is known that improving connectivity will hugely benefit the continent’s air transport and enable other economic sectors.

At the SAATM Pilot Implementation Project (SAATM-PIP) Airshow in Freetown, Sierra Leone, it was heartwarming to witness the commitment of the Banjul Accord Group of states to accelerate the implementation of SAATM amongst the seven member states.

The Republic of Sierra Leone is equally tactically positioning itself as a rising force in the African air transport industry with the several measures the country has put in place to expand air traffic and grow its economy, including infrastructure improvement and a liberal air traffic rights regime.

On a different note, the prevalence of Remotely Piloted Aviation Systems (RPAS) or drones in skies across Africa presents huge economic opportunities but also comes with security and safety challenges for other airspace users. Our lead feature for the August-September 2024 edition maps how the industry can safely integrate drones in Africa’ Air Traffic Management system.

The edition also features an interview with the Director General of the Sierra Leone Civil Aviation Authority, the indefatigable Mrs. Musayeroh Barrie; and reports from the Single African Air Transport Market Pilot Implementation Project (SAATM-PIP) Airshow in Freetown led by the Secretary General of AFCAC, Ms. Adefunke Adeyemi.

Finally, we wish to extend our warm congratulations to Engineer Mahmood Ben Tukur, Nigeria’s Representative to the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) on his election as the Chairperson of the AFI Plan in Gabon recently.

We wish you a pleasant reading.

Thank you.

Capt. Edward Boyo