Hefty import taxes, high fuel prices, exorbitant airport fees and flight permits and lack of access to financing are the major impediments to business aviation in Africa, operators reported at the annual African Business Aviation Association (AfBAA) regional symposium, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in September. In particular, operators identified securing flight permits as a particular obstacle to their business. Triton Aviation CEO Ayo Oyewole said, “Business people want to move quickly. A person might want to fly from Lagos to Addis Ababa now, but securing a landing permit in Addis Ababa might take two days. If you want to fly on weekends in Nigeria, getting a flight permit is a big challenge, even for a Monday flight, because getting a clearance on Saturday and Sunday is difficult, as the offices are closed.” Getting a visa is also a problem, he said.
Companies that provide medical evacuation services voiced their grievances with the African civil aviation authorities that grant flight permits. Sean Culligan, program manager at Phoenix Aviation, said that patients are dying because of delays in acquiring flight permits.
“Securing flight permits in African countries like Equatorial Guinea and Ethiopia is a nightmare,” said Volker Lemke of FAI rent-a-jet. The director general of the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority, Col. Wossenyeleh Hunegnaw, told AIN that different countries have different procedures in granting flight and landing permits. “We grant landing permits to business aviation operators or VIP flights. Especially for medical evacuations, we immediately grant permits. But there is information that we require from the operators. And at times they do not have the required information we request,” Hunegnaw said.
Solomon Gizaw, managing director of Ethiopian charter operator Abyssinian Flight Services, outlined additional challenges in Ethiopia. He said building his business has been a struggle in every way since he started it 16 years ago. For example, Gizaw said that his company, based in the capital Addis Ababa, conducts most of its maintenance work there, but is forced to take its light aircraft to Nairobi for overhaul, “because we did not have a maintenance hangar at our base at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport. We have been begging the Ethiopian Airports Enterprise for a site at the airport. And now, after 16 years, we are [finally] building our maintenance hangar.”
Gizaw went on to say that “aviation” in Ethiopia usually means only Ethiopian Airlines, a situation he attributes to regulators’ lack of understanding of business aviation. “[The airline] succeeded beyond anybody’s expectations. We have a world-class airline. But in business aviation we have failed miserably. Addis Ababa is the seat of the African Union. There are about 2,000 NGOs [non-government organizations] and embassies in Addis Ababa, but there is not a single business jet in the country.”
