A series of near misses over central African airspace has prompted the African Civil Aviation Commission (Afcac) to renew its drive for a single agency to coordinate air traffic control operations in all 53 African states.
The move follows a warning from the South African pilots' organisation that deteriorating coverage in parts of the continent was untenable and created a substantial threat to safety. 'There is little or no radar or VHF coverage north of Zimbabwe,' says one pilots' official.
Jean Razafy, secretary general of the Senegal-based Afcac, echoes the pilots' concerns and says urgent action is needed. The proposal for a pan-African body, under the working title of Africanav, is modelled on the Agency for Security and Navigation (Asecna) which controls the airspace over 14 countries in Francophone western Africa.
As a result of its pilots' concerns, South African Airways is considering rerouting its Europe services back round the western bulge of Africa where they would be under the control of Asecna.
Razafy says financial pressures have exacerbated the problem created by poorly trained staff operating obsolete equipment. He says the new body would take the budgetary demands of ATC away from the member states, while countries would retain sovereignty over their airspace and receive fees from Africanav. However, the lack of cooperation between African states in the airline industry will undoubtedly present a major stumbling block.
The near doubling of north-south traffic to South Africa over the past four years has placed tremendous pressure on existing facilities, and Iata says it has lobbied governments in the region to improve facilities. The number of reported incidents has climbed above the average for the region on these sectors.
The Africanav proposal was adopted by Afcac members last year but there has been little progress so far and no costing or feasibility study. Officials say a proposal is unlikely to emerge before 1998 but suggests the expansion of Asecna to other countries could speed up the process. Iata says it supports the approach in principle but has called for the creation of an independent regulatory body to monitor service standards and pricing.
Iata is already promoting a billing collection system to target user fees towards infrastructure development. This has already been adopted by Angola and Zaire is set to follow suit.
A Fans-based solution is another option, but equipment costs may prove prohibitive: Air Afrique is the only African carrier with Satcom equipment and is currently involved in limited Fans trials. South Africa's Air Traffic and Navigation Service has confirmed it plans to test a Fans-based system at the end of the year.
Roger Makings
Source: Airline Business
