Driving Africa’s open skies

The liberalisation of Africa’s air transport market, as envisioned through the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), is not just an aspirational goal — it is an economic necessity. A unified African sky, underpinned by the Joint Prioritised Action Plan (JPAP), promises to reduce travel costs for passengers, enhance connectivity, and catalyse economic growth and cultural exchange across the continent. The success of this initiative hinges on the active support and collaboration of governments, airlines and aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing.

The need for SAATM stems from longstanding challenges in Africa’s aviation sector: limited intra-African connectivity, high travel costs, fragmented regulations, constrained aircraft financing, and underdeveloped aviation infrastructure. These barriers have confined trade, tourism, and economic and social integration for decades.

Aircraft manufacturers have a responsibility to help address these issues through policy engagement, partnerships, capacity building, and technology. We take pride in our role not ju…