The Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM)

The Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) is an initiative that was agreed upon by the heads of state and governments of the African Union (AU) in 2015 and officially launched in January 2018. The initiative seeks to establish a single air transport market in Africa, with the aim of liberalising civil aviation on the continent and driving economic integration and growth.

SAATM aims to establish a liberalised intra- African aviation market in relation to traffic rights, capacity, frequency, and pricing. It will see enhanced co-operation between airlines in the region, unrestricted frequency and capacity, and fair competition, all of which are intended to benefit the consumer and accelerate economic growth and development. Some fifth-freedom routes have already been implemented, with the aim to increase fifth freedom connections to 30% by 2025.

To date, 37 countries have signed up and these are: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo Brazzaville, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea (Bissau), Guinée, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sénégal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tchad, Togo, Zimbabwe.

IATA fully supports this initiative, which will open up Africa’s skies and promote the value of aviation throughout the continent. Open air arrangements boost traffic, drive economies, and create jobs. An IATA survey suggests that if just 12 key Africa countries opened their markets and increased connectivity, an extra 155,000 jobs and US$1.3 billion in annual GDP would be created in those countries.