FOR African aviation industry to grow, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has advocated the need for a renewed focus on safety to help Africa continent reap the benefits of aviation connectivity.The organisation also said that a strong partnership would assist to drive innovative solutions to the other challenges facing aviation in the region, such as security, environmental sustainability and infrastructure.Speaking recently at the yearly general assembly of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) in Marrakech, the Director General and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Tony Tyler said, 'aviation's connectivity has turned our planet into a global community. With two or three kilometers of runway, even the remote outpost has access to the world through air transport. This is particularly important in Africa where there are often no land transport alternatives.'Tyler, who outlined a vision for supporting the growth of African aviation through partnership and innovation stressed that the operators, 'must work together to ensure that every government in the continent understands aviation as an engine for sustainable development and a key pillar of economic strategy.'He added: 'Africa will benefit greatly by harnessing the power of a successful aviation industry. To ensure that aviation delivers on its potential, we must work together, industry and government, to ensure that aviation is safe, environmentally sustainable and well supported with efficient infrastructure,' said Tyler.IATA noted that aviation called for concern over safety levels in Africa, adding that in 2005 Africa recorded nearly 10 hull losses per million flights with western built jets. While by 2008, it had reduced to two.'That was still 2.5 times worse than the global average, but it was a significant step forward. In 2009, the rate jumped back to 9.94 and in 2010 it was 7.41.Two hull losses so far in 2011 put the rate at 4.33 against a global average of 0.37. The trend is once again in the right direction and there have been no hull losses this year with IATA carriers. Aviation must be safe for all airlines and in all regions and that means we have much work to do in Africa,' said Tyler.'It is time again to muster the political will that we found in 2005 to improve safety. I have high expectations for the African Safety Summit's two ambitious goals for 2015: to reduce Africa's accident rate to the global average and to remove African carriers from the European list of banned airlines.'IATA urged support across the continent for its checkpoint of the future concept, noting that Nigeria joined INTERPOL and over 12 countries in signing a statement of principles supporting the concept. Tyler also pointed out the improvements needed in cargo security and expressed concern at the development of a 'red list' of banned countries by Europe.'Developing a red list is a flawed approach which does not address the underlying issues in cargo security. There is a better path: IATA's Secure Freight programme is a blueprint for a multi-layered approach to securing the air cargo value chain. This is an innovative way to help countries incorporate years of industry know-how and best practices so that they don't have to start with a blank sheet of paper,' explained Tyler.
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