MARY KIRBY / WASHINGTON DC
Regions in short-term push for Barbados-South Africa and non-stop Africa-USA flights
Air transport officials from Africa and the Caribbean hope to convince airlines to launch new nonstop services for the first time between the two regions.
Co-operation on the issue has increased after the demise of Air Afrique, Sabena and Swissair, which previously provided connections.
A meeting held last month in Grenada between the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and South Africa determined that non-stop services linking South Africa with Barbados or possibly Antigua would initially be the most viable, says the minister of tourism and civil aviation for Grenada, Brenda Hood.
A plan of action will be formulated shortly, although this is expected to be accelerated following calls for connections at a recent Pan African and Caribbean air transport conference in Atlanta.
"We are hoping ultimately to have a transatlantic link between Africa and the Caribbean. It's an untapped market," says the ambassador and permanent representative of St Kitts & Nevis, Izben Williams. Non-stop all-cargo flights would also be welcomed, with the US Virgin Islands keen to ship pharmaceuticals from Puerto Rico to Africa.
Aviation consultancy BACK Aviation Solutions believes the OECS and South Africa will eventually convince Air Jamaica, BWIA West Indies Airways or South African Airways (SAA) to launch direct services between South Africa and Barbados. In the short term, however, African and Caribbean officials want to see a US carrier launch non-stop flights from the USA to Africa.
Currently only four African airlines - Ghana Airways, Nigeria Airways, SAA and Royal Air Maroc (RAM) - fly non-stop between the USA and Africa. "That is just a fraction of what we need," says Africa Travel Association first vice-president Gaynelle Henderson-Bailey.
According to the International Civil Aviation Organisation, scheduled passenger traffic in Africa is likely to experience growth of more than 6% by 2003.
Delta is seen as the most likely candidate to initiate African services, as the carrier already links the USA with 29 African destinations through codeshare agreements with SAA, RAM and Delta's SkyTeam alliance partner Air France.
Delta chief executive Leo Mullin says he would like to see non-stop services introduced between the USA and Africa before his contract at the airline expires in six years.
Source: Flight International
