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Aviation experts urge stronger airline safety enforcement in Africa

Xinhua, February 24, 2017 Adjust font size:

Experts attending the Aviation Africa 2017 forum have called on African governments to ensure stronger airline safety regulations in order to address fatal aviation accidents.

They made the call on Thursday during the closure of the two-day high level continental aviation meeting in the Rwandan capital, Kigali.

Africa has just 3 percent of global air traffic. But African crashes accounted for roughly 20 percent of the 29 accidents and 265 fatalities worldwide involving passenger and cargo planes, according to International Air Transport Association (IATA).

"The high airline accident rate in Africa is still a concern. African governments and the private should ensure that air safety rules and regulations are enforced and never compromised," said Dr. Elijah Chingosho, Secretary General of African Airlines Association.

He added that safety concerns including oversight, pilot fatigue, inadequate pilot training and non-essential talk between pilots during takeoffs and landings are common causes of airline fatal accidents which should be prevented.

Rwanda hosted the aviation conference and exhibition from Wednesday to Thursday that deliberated all aspects of the aviation industry including maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO), business aviation, defense and commercial aviation.

It brought together 550 delegates from 58 countries including 120 airlines delegates and 56 exhibiting companies.

The two-day forum also tackled key challenges and opportunities for the growth of the African aviation industry and topics that included: Civil aviation and liberalization, China-Africa regional aviation co-operation, the Cape Town convention, training and human resources and the challenges and opportunities for Africa's airports.

"World class safety is possible in Africa and that we should be committed to achieving it. If we look at the entire Africa aviation industry, safety remains a challenge," said Adefunke Adeyemi, IATA regional Head, Member and External Relations, Africa and Middle East.

She added that poorly maintained airlines should be banned from operation due to safety concerns.

At the meeting, aviation experts said that airlines in Africa reported a loss of about 800 million U.S. dollars in 2016 largely due to regulation of African airspace and airline accidents.

John Mirenge, CEO of Rwandair said that some airlines have records of skimping on plane maintenance which is a big threat to safety of passengers.

"Aircraft inspections should been performed regularly to ensure that safety of the airline and enforcement of air safety regulations should be mandatory. Pilots should also undergo psychological screening frequently," he stated.

The forum also highlighted that cost-effective and appropriate infrastructure development is critical to the sustainability and expansion of African aviation.

IATA says that across Africa, specifically, air transport supports 6.8 million jobs and contributes 72.5 billion U.S dollars to the African continent's GDP. Endit