Africa’s usually neglected secondary and remote airports can excel through a number of key strategies as outlined by Emmanuel Chaves, President of Airports Council International Africa Region (ACI-Africa) in this exclusive interview. And ACI-Africa’s dedication to training airport experts in Africa will support the future of Africa’s airports.
Q: Dozens of airports in Africa are seen as small, remote and unviable despite their closeness to rural agrarian economies; how do you think the airports and remote economies could mutually benefit each other?
A: In general, the air traffic threshold of 1 million passengers per year reflects the breakeven point for an airport. Below this threshold, an airport is operating at a loss. With some 82% of airports in Africa serving fewer than 1 million passengers compared to the worldwide average of 66%, the overall consequence is that many of those airports experience poor economic performances. This is especially the case for least developed countries (LDCs), landlocked developed countries (LLDCs), and small island developing states (SIDS).
Most African States follow an airport network management model in which the largest airport in the country cross-subsidizes the operation and development of smaller airports in order to preserve essential connectivity. Some 96% of African airports belong to a network, where costs and revenues are pooled. Given the challenge that most airports in Africa are loss-making, ACI Africa believes that the airport network model is the most suitable structure but it is important that airport network operators are given the flexibility to determine the most appropriate charging system for recovering their costs and ensuring sustainable operation of the smaller airports in the networks.
Whilst quality infrastructure is certainly an asset, there is a wide range of aspects that airports need to manage to realise their cargo potential. Digitalisation has been one of the most promising opportunities for the industry to increase transparency and reduce inefficiencies.
As aviation faces an impeding challenge in the form of Net-Zero commitment, there is a need to chart the path for air cargo, using the latest technology and industry-wide collaboration. Network air connectivity will always remain among the top key criteria to developing air cargo.
Q: The challenge of ageing and retiring airport professionals still faces the future sustainability of African airports; how are ACI-Africa’s training collaborations and programmes enhancing support to increase training of increased number of younger professionals?
A: One of the main priorities in Africa remains capacity building. At ACI Africa, we play an active role, through our different programs and services in our portfolio, including our lead program, the African Airports Development Program (AADP). The AADP’s mission, amongst others, is to facilitate and democratize access to knowledge on the continent to African airports, by providing accessible and affordable training courses.
This program is led by Africans for Africans. Thus, African trainers and experts are the backbone of the program, helping African airports achieve excellence in airport operations and management. ACI Africa has now more than 15 individual trainers contracted with the association and a further 40 trainers through its partnership with different training centres in Africa. The training catalogue of ACI Africa with the support of that of ACI World boasts more than 150 courses which can be delivered in English, French and Arabic languages. From 2018 to date, more than 900 airport personnel in Africa have been trained in different areas under the AADP.
Africa should not be left behind in the race towards the Net Carbon Zero Goal and ACI Africa will leave no stone unturned in this quest. In this context, ACI Africa has launched the Sustainable Aviation Academy (SAA), in partnership with our business partner ENVISA, with a first series of six courses linked to the theme of sustainable airports. Within the ambit of the AADP, the SAA online platform provides participants with a unique and flexible learning experience, with each course delivered over a period of 4 weeks, inclusive of modules and assessments to be completed online as well as mid-term live webinars with an instructor. Participants are thus able to gather knowledge and expertise on sustainable airport development at their own pace. The first batch of students have completed the Environmental Management System course and a second batch has embarked on the second course on how airports can reduce their carbon emission.
The next area of collaboration on learning and development concerns the partnership among ACI Africa, Airports Company South Africa and the University of Cape Town on the delivery of accredited academic qualifications with specialization in aviation at the Advanced Diploma, Post-graduate Diploma and Executive Master in Business Administration levels through a combination of online, virtual classes, webinars and labs. The first aviation-related academic courses will be run as from January 2024. This initiative represents a great opportunity for the younger generation of aviation professionals.
Q: Some African airports were recently announced as winning in various categories in the ACI Awards; do you think these awards have encouraged improvements among African airports?
A: The mission of ACI Africa is to help each African airport achieve its mission, meaning that we need to represent and advance the collective interests of African airports, while promoting professional excellence in airport operations and management, through the provision of effective and quality programs and services, to achieve a safe, secure and sustainable development of the air transport industry in Africa.
Under the lead program of ACI Africa, i.e. the African Airports Development Program, we have been helping airports with different initiatives, including on learning and development, airport certification and other expert missions.
In order for African airports to aim for excellence and benchmark against the best in the industry, we also have a number of awards program to help them achieve these objectives.
At the level of ACI Africa, we have the popular ACI Africa Safety Awards which have been running since 2016. These awards aim at showcasing African airports with the best safety practices and which may serve as role model to others. The safety awards also serve as a motivation to continuously bring improvements in safety, which remain a top priority in aviation. Recently, we innovated with the Human Resources Excellence Awards for African airports, which aim at highlighting the best practices in terms of the management of the most precious asset of any airport organization, I mean its staff.
This year, we will innovate further with the introduction of the Awards in environment sustainability at African airports. We are very much excited with this new awards program as it gears to prepare us for a sustainable future especially that the aviation industry is often tagged as being a big polluter and a high contributor of carbon emission.
Globally, we also have the Airport Service Quality awards which recognize and reward the best airports in the world. They represent the highest possible accolade for airport operators and are an opportunity to celebrate the commitment of airports worldwide to continuously improving the passenger experience. These awards continue to attract a number of African airports and many of them are proud recipients of these awards in the different categories, underlying their commitment on the journey towards passenger excellence and on their quest for continuous improvement to enhance the quality of services offered to passengers.
Q: As airport traffic is expected to increase over the next 5 years and beyond, how do you think security and facilitation can be improved at African airports?
A: Nowadays, safe, secure, and hygienic travel experience have become top priorities, and passengers are choosing airports that prioritize their well-being above all. Going forward, we can expect to see more touchless self-service processing, greater use of biometrics and more processes carried out remotely, with technology and automation playing a key role.
But I can say that this concept is not new as it was already embedded in the vision of ACI for the future of travel. The pandemic has certainly accelerated its adoption now. This concept is called the New Experience Travel Technologies, NEXTT, a joint initiative of Airports Council International (ACI) and International Air Transport Association (IATA). NEXTT encapsulates the shared vision of both associations for the future of travel encompassing the complete journey from home to end destination by focusing on three concepts for passengers, baggage, cargo and aircraft operations, namely: (i) off-airport activities, (ii) advanced processing technology such as robotics and biometrics, and (iii) interactive decision-making.
The NEXTT vision used to remain a long-term focus on the future of travel for many airports, with its implementation considered in a phased manner. However, with the pandemic, the scenario is altogether different and the adoption of these concepts has become extremely relevant today and will certainly constitute the most relevant framework for airports willing to instill efficiency in their processes whilst at the same time comply with the needs of passengers for a safe, secure and healthy air travel experience.
Pre-COVID-19, the NEXTT’s vision of off-airport activities was that passengers would have full control of their journey in the comfort of their homes prior to reaching the airport by providing them with a number options regarding online or mobile check-in procedures, off-airport baggage or cargo drop-off, travel authorizations and customs procedures to be managed digitally, and online shopping and booking of ancillary airport services, amongst others. These off-airport options, as envisaged by NEXTT, are extremely relevant now during this ongoing crisis to reduce contact and crowding at airports, to help physical distancing and to alleviate on-site capacity airport constraints, and will certainly become even more relevant in the post-pandemic world.
Pre-COVID-19, NEXTT’s second vision of advanced processing related to the use of technology for identification purposes, automation and robotics to create a seamless, secure and harmonised process for passengers and baggage handling at various automated touchpoints at airports, viz. document check at entry, check-in, self-service bag drops, access to security checkpoints, border control and boarding.
In the post-pandemic world, the need for contactless processing has become an even stronger recommendation, if not a norm for the long term, as evidenced by the ICAO Council Aviation Recovery Taskforce (CART) Report and Recovery Guidelines released during the crisis, which recommended the increased use of technology to facilitate contactless processing of passengers at various stages of their journey. Thus, the passenger experience at the airport will involve the biometric verification of identity and health status at walking pace for a completely uninterrupted and touchless journey.
