Qatar Airways has urged African countries, including Nigeria, to focus on the development of their airports to ensure aviation safety and partnerships with local carriers. In an exclusive interview with New Telegraph, the Vice President (Africa), Hendrik du Preez, decried the high cost of operations in many countries of Africa.

He cited high tax rates and decrepit infrastructure in many African airports. Du Preez said: “It is true that there is an infrastructure challenge in Africa. You have seen many countries that have built new airports, renovated new terminals to enable more airlines to operate. I think close cooperation between government and airlines is crucial to enable business to thrive.

“Aviation is an economic enabler just by enabling trade, enabling business; that in itself drives economies. Safety is another key area that needs to be looked at that gives a lot of concerns globally about the safety of air travel in Africa and it is putting those concerns at risk by relevant regulatory authorities looking at the safety of operations, development of infrastructure.”

According to him, governments need to look into the problems as the imposition of taxes directly affect travellers. “That sums it up. It is so expensive to operate to some destinations that it becomes unaffordable for travellers at the end of the day. I think it is a multitude of those things combined that would enhance or mar aviation in Africa,” he added.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) had identified weak and costly infrastructure, high ticket prices, poor intra-African connectivity, and proliferation of taxes and charges as factors retarding the growth of air transport in Africa.

The clearinghouse also said there was evidence that aviation in Africa had the potential to fuel trade and economic growth, but for the barriers.

Speaking on the carrier’s route expansion in Nigeria and the 16 new destinations in Africa during COVID- 19, Du Preez said Kano and Port Harcourt would be the 7th and 8th destinations they launched during this pandemic. He said: “We want to see Africa as our own, making it more accessible to people and I think that is our strategy for Nigeria.

There are different segments of people travelling. If you look at the need for people travelling from Kano, it is different from people travelling out of Port Harcourt.

The traffic flows from the two of them are different. I think Port Harcourt; it supports our network because a lot of energy companies that are operating down there are starting quickly ramping up the business and connecting to our network of 140 destinations.”

Recall that Nigeria’s Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) with Qatar got expanded last month as the Gulf carrier announced its new services to Kano and Port Harcourt aside from the two daily flights to Lagos, doubling its network to Nigeria (New Telegraph)