Aviation Safety Seminar, Johannesburg
28 February 2006
President of AFRAA, Mr Folly-Kossi
President of IATA, AFI region Mr Chidambaram
Members of the CAA Board
Chief Executive Officers of airlines
Representatives of civil aviation associations and the general aviation
industry, the civil aviation safety community, aviation support organizations,
and aviation safety officers
Ladies and gentleman
It gives me great pleasure to be with you this morning and to make some
remarks about aviation safety. I have no doubt that we all agree that aviation
safety is an immediate concern, not only to us the civil aviation community but
to the public we serve, but too often aviation safety and security are treated
either sensationally or in very simplistic terms.
We are indeed fortunate and honoured to welcome representatives of important
international partners in pursuit of safer skies, including global, regional
and domestic civil aviation industry bodies and institutions.
Aviation plays a critical role in modern economies, including the growing
economies of Africa. Research carried out for the Air Transport Action Group
provides some background why this is so. Air transport contributes about US$330
billion a year to world GDP directly, but this rises to about US$880 billion if
we add indirect and induced impacts. This is about 2.4% of global GDP. It has
become the primary means of moving people and high value freight around the
world, so that over two billion passengers and about 40% of interregional
exports by value now travel by air. The sector directly employs some five
million people, or about 29 million around the world, if we include all jobs
linked to air transport. Some 40% of all international tourists also travel by
air now as well.
Air transportâs impact on Africa is also significant. It generates about 470
000 direct and indirect jobs across Africa, contributing over US$11.3 billion
to African GDP. If we add sectors such as tourism that owe their existence to
the air transport sector, then the number of jobs increases to about 3.1
million and the contribution to African GDP reaches some US$55.5 billion.
African airlines directly employ over 82 000 people. There are about 46 500
working in African aerospace (thatâs maintenance companies, air traffic control
etc), and over 21 000 by African airport operators, with a remaining 18 000 or
so people employed in on-site airport jobs across the continent. Including all
air transport related jobs, these figures rise substantially to over 216 000
for airline employment; over 151 000 for aerospace; over 56 000 for airports
and just under 47 000 for on-site employment.
The airlines contribute about US$7.5 billion to African GDP, the airports
just over US$2 billion and aerospace just over US$1.5 billion. These are
significant figures in anyoneâs book.
Tourism is a driving force in a number of African countries, including
Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Ghana, Senegal, and Tanzania and is
assuming an ever increasing importance in South Africa and Namibia as well.
This is one reason Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa
(Asgisa) has focused on tourism and strategies for increasing our capacity to
bring more tourists to South Africa.
An amazing 20% of all tourism jobs in Africa are directly related to
air-borne tourists, or, in other words, about 675 000 people in Africa are
directly employed in tourist ventures because of air travel brings people here.
I assume the figures do not include the increasing number of African tourists
travelling within the continent. Comparatively, tourism related employment
supported by air is higher in Africa than Latin America and the Caribbean,
North America and the Middle East. (1)
Only 300 000 people in the United States of America (USA), or 4% of direct
employment, for example, in tourism depend on arriving visitors from
overseas.
In Africa, air transport continues to be a primary means of communicating
with remote areas, providing relief from natural disasters, transporting
humanitarian aid, assisting and supporting peacekeeping efforts and, at the
other end of the scale, bringing Africans closer together and improving
consumer welfare.
There has been a phenomenal increase in the number of people who frequently
use air transport as their normal mode of transport. Flying is increasingly
becoming a viable form of transport for more and more people. Aviation is
becoming more and more accessible to ordinary people, and we can rest assured
that passenger numbers will continue to grow significantly in the near
future.
The number of airlines registered in Africa increased from just over 300 to
around 372 last year. Whereas only 16 African countries registered five or more
airlines each in 2004, this number jumped to 23 in 2005, with the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC), Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa registering 41,
31, 30 and 29 each. Interestingly, West Africa and the Sahel region, including
Sudan, have shown a marked increase in airline activity. Estimates for 2004
suggested that the airlines flew some 1400 aircraft in African colours, but
this figure rose to 2050 last year. (2) IATA figures suggest that Africa will
follow international trends and see a slight slowdown in both passenger and
freight traffic during the next five years. Passenger growth is estimated at an
aggregate growth of 5.7% for passengers and about 4.5% for freight. (3)
But these figures are for the Europe-Africa route and do not take into
account the potentially enormous development of internal African airline
activity, nor indeed do they fully appreciate increases in the movement of
non-scheduled or general aviation traffic.
So, aside from the increased number of aircraft flying through African
skies, and the increased numbers of people this implies, we must also take note
that the established airlines are extending their reach beyond their home
regions on an increasing scale as well, joining east and west, north and south
like never before. Increased civil traffic rides on the back of continued
charter activity and particular business jet activity across the continent.
Countries such as the DRC and Sudan, and areas of West Africa, can expect
increased traffic associated with political developments as well.
All in all, the traditional air corridors across the continent to Europe and
further east and west are becoming busier and busier; whilst more areas are
beginning to enjoy sufficient traffic movements to become classified as new air
corridors.
This must focus attention on the state of air navigation systems, airspace
management and control, adequate and secure airport infrastructure and
ground-based navigation aids, including proper and safe exclusion areas for
people and animals around runways, taxiways, aprons as well as the existence of
accurate navigation maps and data about the state of airports and landing
strips.
Whilst some airlines are making enormous efforts to upgrade their fleets and
have bought new aircraft, for much of the time, new start-up airlines, and even
some of the older operators are increasingly taking advantage of the buyers
market for older generation aircraft. Whilst many of these aircraft still have
many, many years of service ahead of them, it is quite clear that we should be
concerned about far too many of them.
One reason given for the growth in turbo-prop aircraft serving internal
African routes is the poor state of infrastructure that restricts jet aircraft
access. It is simply undeniable that air transport has become a significant,
indeed economically strategic mode of transport for the continent as a whole. I
repeat a call I made last year that we need urgently to develop a sustainable
and coherent African air transport programme to underpin the continentâs
continued development.
A critical element of such a plan must be safety and security in the air
transport sector generally. We simply cannot allow safety issues to undermine
confidence in our air transport systems.
It is against this background that aviation safety has become a serious
concern, a concern that is justifiable given the growth and complexity of this
industry. While aviation appears to be safe, we must bear in mind that flying
is inherently unsafe, and we must therefore make it safe. Deliberate measures
and concerted efforts must be made to ensure that civil aviation is always a
safe experience. This is especially true as we recognise that air transport
will be the major carrier of 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup players and visitors.
African carriers must be a central part of the effort to bring spectators and
players to South Africa.
Despite some progress, it remains an unfortunate fact that the picture for
Africa still does not look good. Urgent measures need to be taken if we want to
win the confidence of the rest of the world. We all know the raw data: although
Africa accounts for about three percent of the worldâs aircraft departures, in
2004 Africa accounted for about 27% of all fatal accidents in the world. 2005
was a particularly nasty year for commercial air safety, and although the
global average of hull losses per million sectors was 0.78 in 2004, the African
hull loss average was 5.2.
Last year at Sun City, African ministersâ responsible for air transport
recommitted the continent to reducing the accident rate by 50% by 2015, but all
agree that âthis requires steadfast decisions in the areas of upper airspace
management, maintenance and operations on the ground; the phasing out of
certain types of ageing aircraft, probably mostly in the cargo and
air-freighter categories; and improving air traffic navigation infrastructure
and services". (4)
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the International Air
Transport Association (IATA) and our own organisations, African Airlines
Association (AFRAA) and African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC), have
collectively called for African member states to implement a number of
international initiatives around safety in the air and security in the aviation
sector generally. In doing so, these bodies have been hard at work to provide
assistance and encouragement. All of us are indeed grateful for the hard work
that they have put in to these efforts. However, those of us on the continent
with the resources and experience to drive the process forward should also
contribute generously.
The strength of South Africaâs air transport sector is well known and highly
regarded, and it is this reputation that has thrust us into an active
leadership role on the continent and beyond. But we must not take for granted
the responsibility that such a role brings with it.
One of the challenges of safety initiatives on the continent is the lack of
detailed data to support the accurate determination of problem areas and
necessary solutions. In the absence of adequate information, decisions on
solutions and effective allocation of resources will continue to be difficult.
Databases must be maintained in order to monitor trends and identify
problematic areas in the aviation industry.
Last year, the South African Government approved the National Aviation
Safety Plan and since then much has been done to implement key provisions. All
our major Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) airports and ten others have
completed compliant airport safety plans. Likewise, airlines have also produced
compliant airline safety plans. Naturally, this is a process that is not
governed by a âchecklist mentalityâ, but is dynamic and flexible to changing
security and other profiles.
I must register my appreciation to ACSA and the managements of other
airports, and the airlines themselves, for the manner in which they have thrown
themselves into these tasks. Now we must make sure that they are implemented
with due haste.
Naturally, and given the environment, safety and security in the aviation
sector gives rise to sensational reporting from time to time. I would simply
urge that even when breaches of security take place, this does not necessarily
mean that a specific threat was either imminent or successful. Also, if
something happens, it needs to be judged against the intent of the intruder, an
assessment of how the various layers of the security and safety system held up
to the intrusion, or mitigated against it, and so on. From time to time, the ad
hoc inspections of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and their teams have
revealed certain weaknesses that have been addressed immediately and
thoroughly. At the same time, all inspections have proven the effectiveness of
our systems. But again, I must stress that none of us, certainly not in
government and I am assured by all that none in the industry either, are
complacent about security issues.
During the coming year the civil aviation community in South Africa will
continue its compliance with current aviation safety policies within the
framework of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards and
recommended practices. These will be measured against the results of the ICAO
Universal Safety Oversight Audit in 2007.
Some thought is also being given to the creation of an autonomous accidents
investigation authority together with alternative ways of funding its
activities. The South African aviation accident and incident statistics for the
period of the past ten years reflect an average of 150 accidents per annum, an
average of 31 fatalities per year, and an estimated 1 500 incidents per
annum.
It is important to note that 80% of accidents are caused by human factors,
and only 20% through mechanical problems. In the South African context, we
should agree on a target for incident and accident reductions based on
intervention strategies to achieve that target, and we should review these
regularly.
We need a partnership for safer skies, because the Department of Transport
and its civil aviation agencies alone cannot achieve safer skies for the
country. All relevant stakeholders: industry professionals, operators,
associations and support organizations, have distinct roles to play in the
enhancement of safety.
Recently a forthright commentator remarked that âmost politicians [in
Africa] tend to concentrate on the airlines and totally ignore the very real
value of general aviation in the overall infrastructure.â We must all work much
harder to appreciate and include general aviation in all our aviation matters
and not burden it with over zealous regulation or ill-conceived policies
covered under the rubric of security or safety needs.
The nature of the general aviation sector, its multiple roles and functions,
alongside and distinct from the comparative giants of the airlines, must be
carefully considered and taken into account. To this end, I believe we have a
great deal to learn in the security context from the joint Airport Watch
programme in the USA between the government authorities on the one hand and the
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association on the other.
Fortunately, both as a country and indeed as a continent, we are not alone
in seeking safer skies. Among the many international programmes developed by
IATA and ICAO, I just want to mention the recent development of the IATA
Operation Safety Audit programme in which our airlines participate. The first
African audits were conducted last year, and we all congratulate South African
Airways for successfully completing its safety audit. It becomes the first
southern African airline to do so.
Next year, ICAO will be conducting an audit of the SA Safety Oversight
Institutions, a major part of which is the Civil Aviation Authority. It is our
duty to ensure that we are compliant with our obligations. We cannot afford to
fail this country. Preparations, that I believe have already started, should be
refined and implemented effectively. I am confident that the CAA Board and its
employees will rise to this challenge, and I am aware that the industry has
availed itself to support the CAA in this regard, and I thank them for their
contribution in advance.
The South African government attaches great importance to civil aviation,
which is an important component in our economic development. Civil aviation has
played a definitive role in our endeavours to eradicate poverty, improve the
lives of our people and assist with the development of relationships with our
sister African States. Your seminar follows a very successful International
Aviation Security Screening Symposium held in February last year, and comes
before the African Aviation Safety and Security conference scheduled for July
2006. All this work will not be ignored. This seminar today therefore has our
fullest support. Thanks once again to all concerned for taking time to
deliberate on aviation safety and security for Africa.
Thank you.
References:
1. Air Transport Action Group the Economic and Social Benefits of Air Transport
[2005]. Source: IATA website, 27 February 2006.
2. 2005 figures in World Air news August 2005, volume 33, no 6. 2004 quoted
from previous edition.
3. IATA, âPassenger and Freight Forecasts, 2005-2009â, October 2005. IATA
website
4. Pres Thabo Mbeki, Opening Address to African Ministersâ Air Transport
Summit, Sun City, 2005
Issued by: Department of Transport
28 February 2006
