The Air Transport Market That Only Flies on Paper

Mozel Chimuka, Ciêla Resort and  Spa | 17 October 2025 — Southern African airlines wait six months for flight operation permits that should take just six days. Fleet orders sit grounded, bilateral applications gather dust awaiting licensing councils that never convene, and the landmark agreement that was supposed to revolutionise continental aviation generates endless conference speeches but zero implementation. The Single African Air Transport Market (SATAM) exists on paper, thrives in rhetoric, and dies at every civil aviation authority desk where carriers desperately seek permission to fly.

The Permit Paralysis

Mr. Joelson Vasconcelos from TAG Angola Airlines highlighted operational challenges that test SATAM's promises. His airline cannot deploy new fleet orders into certain markets because flight operation permit approvals consume more than six months. Each grounded aircraft represents millions in lost revenue and financing costs that tick upward daily. Civil aviation bodies need to provide fast responses to help airlines run assets efficiently. Despite these obstacles, Mr. Vasconcelos recommended patience, noting that regulatory challenges are strategic issues at the government level and acknowledging that AFCA is doing an outstanding job. Full digitalisation, he suggested, would be a solution to approval delays.

Mr. Tebogo Tsimane, CCO of South African Airways, pointed to bilateral application processes where airlines wait months for licensing councils that simply refuse to convene. Southern Africa performs reasonably well outside South Africa itself, where domestic slot challenges contradict the region's stated commitment to SATAM principles. The regulatory challenges "at home," as Mr. Tsimane described South Africa, stand in stark contrast to reciprocating countries like Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana that process permissions efficiently. Travel north into Central Africa, however, and the regulatory environment deteriorates rapidly.

SATAM receives abundant discussion at every aviation conference. Governments sign declarations. Ministers make speeches. Yet as Mr. Tsimane bluntly stated: "SATAM is talked about a lot but absolutely nothing is done; it needs to be driven as critical."

Mr. Christoph Seimelo, Chief Legal Counsel for Namibia's civil aviation authority, acknowledged part of the problem from the regulator's perspective. Operators sometimes submit incomplete documentation or provide information in fragments, then blame the CAA for delays. Red tape and bureaucracy must stop, starting with senior management at both airlines and regulators. The best path forward for SADC would involve standardised civil aviation regulations that eliminate country-by-country variations and create predictable timelines.

When Airlines Become Governments

An operations manager for a regional carrier arrived at a small African airport for a routine morning departure and discovered goats scattered across the runway. Ground crew employed by the airline—not the airport—fanned out to herd the animals through gaps in perimeter fencing that the airline itself maintains. This scene repeats regularly across the continent.

Dr. Namhla Tshetu, Executive for Corporate Affairs at Airlink, described how airlines perform jobs that belong to airports and governments. Carriers provide security equipment, repair fencing, train staff, maintain infrastructure, and even move animals from runways because the entities responsible for these tasks abandon them. Airlines remain the first line of defence because the customer contract belongs to the carrier, not air traffic services, the airport, or the civil aviation authority. When infrastructure crumbles, passengers blame and sue the airline. An enabling environment needs to be created where everyone in the system plays their role.

Ms. Harriet Nakazwe Angetile, Director at Zambia Airports Corporation, explained that small international airports lose money while struggling to comply with regulations designed for major hubs. Many operate with old infrastructure and generate insufficient revenue for upgrades. Regulations are based on ICAO standards, but they cannot be applied uniformly due to the different sizes of airports. Applying the same regulation standard as a large hub like Oliver Tambo to a small airport is "killing the aviation industry," Ms. Angetile warned. While airports do cushion airlines through startup incentives and reduced fees for new routes, the regulatory burden remains disproportionate.

Angetile also addressed a deeper cultural barrier. Flying in Africa is still perceived as a prestigious thing to do rather than normal transport. The industry must move away from this perception if aviation is to become accessible to ordinary citizens and drive genuine economic development.

Sasha Fanni, Executive for Operations Management at AXA Group, highlighted how inefficiencies ripple through the value chain. Security delays at OR Tambo create disruptions that cascade across the entire system. Airports must coordinate for efficiencies. Data sharing between airlines, airports, and regulators could eliminate redundant processes. The industry needs Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for customer service complaints that track where failures originate rather than allowing blame to default automatically to airlines.

The Tax Penalty for Flying African

Kamil Al-Awadhi, RVP of IATA, presented a Johannesburg-Lusaka ticket analysis that exposed the financial burden strangling African aviation. A 287-dollar ticket showed 41 percent of the cost goes to charges, taxes, and other costs, leaving only 59 percent for the airline. In comparison, a London-Paris ticket only has 13 percent in taxes and charges.

African travellers pay triple the European regulatory burden to fund bureaucracies that delay permits for months, force airlines to perform government duties, and apply uniform compliance standards to airports with wildly different capacities. The cost for airlines—salaries and fuel—does not change because the airport is smaller, yet small airports often impose proportionally higher fees to compensate for low traffic volumes.

Jean from Mozambique highlighted that small airports face impossible personnel requirements identical to large ones. He suggested Public Service Obligations where governments subsidise tickets for social purposes. "Taxes for security and airport building are costs that belong to the state, not the passenger," Jean argued.

Dr. Sylvia B Mwansa pushed the conversation deeper. Meaningful change demands a mindset shift beyond policies and cost structures. She asked what old beliefs, assumptions, and habits are being stopped at the mindset level that no longer serve the future of aviation in Southern Africa.

The Path Forward

Progress requires more than speeches about SATAM and continental integration. Civil aviation authorities must stop functioning as training grounds where staff gain experience before departing for better opportunities, leaving airlines to constantly educate new regulators. Seelo noted that civil aviation authorities have become training grounds, and training is expensive. Authorities must keep training, using retired personnel and regional safety organisations like CASO and AFRAA for assistance. ICAO standards are the bare minimum for safety and security, and going below them invites trouble, Seelo emphasised, though operators can ask for exemptions to comply differently if safety is not compromised.

Digitalisation could eliminate many approval delays while creating transparent timelines and accountability. Standardised regulations across SADC would prevent the country-by-country variation that forces airlines to maintain expertise in dozens of different compliance regimes.

African aviation will continue suffocating under permit delays, disproportionate tax burdens, and misallocated responsibilities until governments prioritise implementation over declarations. SATAM needs enforcement mechanisms, not additional conferences. Airlines need permission to fly, not speeches about how important aviation is for development. Six-month permit delays must become six-day approvals, or SATAM will remain what it is today: alive in conference proceedings, dead at every regulatory desk where carriers wait for permission that never arrives.