AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE East Africa Busi- ness Council (EABC) has warned that the differences emerging in regional air transport services among some partner states are set to adversely affect the rebound of business in the region.
“The East African Business Council congratulates Kenya and Rwanda as they resume international flights today, 1st August 2020.
Tanzania resumed international flights on the 18th of May 2020,” a statement issued on Saturday by EABC Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Peter Mathuki, reads in part.
He added: “These are im- portant steps towards the recovery of the aviation and tourism sectors, however, the differences emerging in regional air transport services among some partner states are set to adversely affect the rebound of business in the region.”
According to Dr Mathuki, East African Community (EAC) must have a coordinated ap- proach to regional air services reopening to spur intraregional trade and revive the tourism and hospitality sector heavily hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The East African Business Council urges the EAC Partner States to prioritise and fasttrack the unconditional reopening of regional air transport services and agree on an EAC coordinated approach on the opening of the regional aviation sector, in line with the World Health Organisation guidelines and mea- sures,” Dr Mathuki said.
He said the reopening of regional air transport services will integrate the regional logistics value chains for increased exports of fresh produce, regional tourism and enable service providers to tap into the larger EAC market.
“This is set to bol- ster business continuity and resilience to sustain livelihoods and jobs,” Dr Mathuki said in his state- ment. According to the state- ment, intra EAC trade stood at $5.98 billion in 2018 (EAC Trade and Investment Report).
However, with the unprecedented impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the economy, regional trade is expected to decline by 50 per cent this year.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the EAC Partner States will potentially lose upwards of US$5.4 billion of tourist local spending for the year 2020 under scenarios of protracted closures and restrictions of seaports and airports.
The impact of Covid- 19 has led to a decline in the number of air passengers, hence approximately US$0.54 billion revenue loss was projected in Kenya, risking 137,965 jobs while US$20.4 mil- lion base revenues loss, risking 3,000 jobs was projected in Rwanda.
EABC stated that EAC Partner States should con- sider temporarily granting the Yamoussoukro Decision (YD) 5th to 9th Freedom rights to effectively increase capacity, reduce inefficiencies and costs; waive landing fees, excise duty on aviation fuel, navigation, land- ing, parking and Covid- 19 related fees to reduce operating costs; and the reduction of permit and fees for service providers from the EAC region.
The warning and call from the regional busi- ness body has come at the time when an aviation row rages between Tanzania and Kenya.
It all started on Thursday when the Kenya government excluded Tanzania in the list of nationals allowed into its territory.
Acting on reciprocal basis, Tanzania, through the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA), cancelled plans to allow Kenya Airways to resume flights to the larg- est East African nation.
