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E/ECA/TRANS177A
17 October 1988
Original : ENGLISHi FRENCH

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 EiECA/TRANS 177A

DECLARATION OF YAMOUSSOUKRO ON A NEW

AFRICAN AIR TR.ANSPORT POLICY

We, African Ministers responsiblefor Civil Aviation, meeting in Yamoussoukro,

Republicof Côte d'Ivoire, from 6 to 7 October 1988,

Consideringthe Lagos PIan of Action and Final Act of Lagos adoptedin April 1980
by the Assembly of Headsof Stateand Governmentof the Organizationof African Unity in
resolutionCM/Res.804(XXXV) of June 1980,

Consideringthe variousresolutionsadoptedby the Conferenceof African Ministers of

Transport, Communicationsand Planningon air transportmattersand endorsedby ECA
Conferenceof Ministers,in particularresolutiotts
ECA/IJNTACDA/Res.1916of May 1979
and ECA/UNTACDA/Res.83184 of March 1983 on the freedoms of the air,
ECA/UNTACDA/Res.79111of May 1979on theestablishment of an African Conferencefor
renegotiatingand approving tariffs; ECA/UNTACDA/Res.86/60 of March 1986 on the
establishmentof a well coordinatednetwork of aircraft maintenanceand overhaul centresin
Africa,

Convinced that air transport is an intportatrt tool for the prornotion of social and
economicdevelopmentin Africa and in the world,

Convincedthat due to the internationalnatureof air transport, measurestaken in one

part of the world are likely to havean irnpacton developingcountriesin generaland on Africa
in particular,

Aware of the effects of deregulationin the United Statesand of the consequencesit

may haveon policiesof other countriesfor the regulationof their air transportindustry,

Gravely concernedabout the potential adverseeffects on the African airlines of the

Europeanair transportliberalizationpolicies,especiallythe applicationby EEC of the Treaty
of Rome to air transportservicesand the creationof a single internalmarketby 1993,

Bea{ng in mind the fact that many aircraft owned by African airlines are obsoleteand
thus in needof replacementat great cost,

Consciousof the urgentneedfor African airlines to renew their fleet, and in particular
to colnply with chapters2 and 3 of Annex 16 to the ChicagoConverltionof 1944,concerning
aircraft noise,

Consideringthe needfor African countriesto exchangetraffic rights in a liberal manner

in order to developair servicesamongthemselves,

Noting the urgent need for all African airlines to rnarkettheir product competitively
through an unbiasedcomputerizedreservationsystem,

Aware that most African airlinesoperateat a lossand that they consumea considerable
part of their countries' meagreforeign exchangeresources,

Recognizingthe fragility of the presentair transportindustry in Africa and the

of its market.
smallness
E/ECAiTRANS 177A
Page 2

Recognizingthe urgent needfor Afrisan airlines to improve their managementand to

cooperateamong themselves,

under the framework of a new

Guided by the will to fight againstunder-development
and just internationaleconomicorder,

Strongly resolvedto considerablyrestructureAfrican air transportin order to make it

contribute more significantly to the national development of African States and to the
continent'ssocial and economic integration,

Agree to commit ourselves,individually and collectively, to promote a climate of

cooperation and solidarity which is necessaryfor the safeguardingand development of
internationalair transportactivities in Africa, and agreeby this Declaration, to adopt a new
air transportpolicy basedon the following guidelines:

COOPERATIOI\ II\{ AIR TRANSPORT

A. Integrationof airlines

We commit ourselves,individually and collectively, to make all the necessaryeftbrts

to achievethe integrationof our airl ineswithin a period of eight years. This integrationshould
be done through the strengtheningof existing cooperativestructuresand the creation of new
entitieseither on a subregionalbasis, on the basisof economicgroupings or on the basis of
affinity. To this end, studiesand consultationswill be carriedout immediately. The process
towards the total integration of our airlines could be carried out in phases as indicated
hereunder,it being understoodthat in certaincasesit may not be necessaryto go through all
the phases.

Our Governments
agree:

During PhaseI

(a) to exchangeinformation on the value and type of equipmentand facilities of

each African airlines, including aircraft capacity, aircraft type, training, and
maintenancefacilities.

(b) to initiate action for the maximum use of any available capacity and in this
connection investigatethe possibility of designatinggateway airports fiom
which other airlines could feed their traffic with a view to improving
profitabiliry;

(c)
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DuringPhaseII

To committheir airlinesto thejoint operationof compatibleand international routes

andto carryoutjointlycertainaspectsof airlineoperationsparticularlyin thefollowingareas:
 E/flCA1TRANSrr7A
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(a) Joint insurance;

(b) Computerizedreservationssystem;

(c) Joint purchaseof spareparts;

(d) Joint aircraft purchasingand/or leasing;

(e) Joint or commondesignationof flights;

(0 Common accessto the market and granting of traffic rights;

(g) Consolidationof salesoutletsand stationhandlingactiviriesincluding mutual

representationin salesoffices;

(h) Joint promotionand saleof the joint services;

(i) Revenueand cost sharing;

û) Harmonizationof existingindividualnetworks;

(k) Training facilities;

(l) Maintenanceand overhaulingof equipment.

And during PhaseIIl

To achieve the complete integrationof airlines, especiallyaccording to the three

schemesbelow:

(a) Consortium: Close collaborationbetweenthe nremberswithout creating an

independentlegal entity;

(b) Jointly owned airlines: The partnersmay create a separatelegal entiry ro

managethe aft-airsof the partners. Under this arrangementthe partnersmerge
their operationswhile maintainingtheir individuality;

(c) Merger: The partner airlines combine to fbrrn a single entity replacing rhe
separateairlines that existedbefore the merger.

African Governmentsshall strive to unCertakeactionsnecessaryto reach PhasegI as

quickly as possibleaccordingto the following timetable:

PhaseI - 2years
PhaseII - 3years
PhaselII - 3years
 177A
E/ECA/TRANS
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Traffic rights

Duringtheimplementation of theprogramntefor theintegration

of ourairlinestheneed
trafficrightswill be graduallyeliminated.Duringtheperiodof transition,it is
to exchange
to showmoreflexibilityin thegrairtingof thefifth freedomto Africartairlines.
necessary

Groupingsof countriescooperatingin the establishment of ioint multinationalairlines

will exchange traffic rights among themselves without restriction artd shall formulate a
common policy for the granting of traffic rights to carriers from outside Atiica.

A. Costsand Tariffs

Recognizingthe relationshipbetweentariffs and airlineoperatingcosts,African Civil

Aviation Administrations and airlines undertake to increasetheir technical cooperation,
especiallyin the fields of maintenanceand overhaul of aircraft, fleet planning and joint
purchaseactivities,the use of ground equipmentand collectiveinsuranceso as to minimize
operatingcostsand thereby reduceta"riffs"

Immediateaction shall be takenby Atiican Statesthat have not yet done so to ratify the
Conventionon the Africart Air Tariff Conference(AI;RATC), a forum fbr African airlinesto
study, discussand agreeon air tariffs to, fiom and within Afiica.

IMPROVEMENT OF MANAGEMENT

The ultimate integrationof our airlinesshouldbe basedon the improvenrentof their

financial situation. We undettaketo improve the managernent of existing nationalairiines
througltaprogrammeof intensivetrainingaimedat rnakingavailableto them manpower,who
are qualified and skilled in this field, cotnpetence
being the sole criterion for the appointment
of all staff. Every effort would be made to retain specialiststafts who are hard to come by,
within the airlines.

We further undertaketo intensityour effbrts to accord priority to the use of existing

trainingfacilitieswithin Africa.

FINANCTNGOF ATRTRAI{SPORT ACTIVITIES

Within the frameworkof the integrationof our airlinesinto larger units we shall seek
to purchaseequipmentjointly in order to enhanceour ability to acquiremodernaircraft.

We shall also work towards the establishmentof an African aircraft leasing and
financingcompanyso as to facilitatethe acquisitionof equipmelitby African airlines.

To this end, we call on African financinginstitutions,in particularADB, and other

multinationalfinancinginstitutionsto give high priority to activitiesfor the irnplementarion
of
the objectivesset out in this Declaration. We also enÇourage African private capitalto get
involved in the financingof air transportactivities.
 E/ECAJTRANS
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PRODUCT DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM

We commit ourselvesto combatting the invasion of our national markets by non-

African distributionsystemsand, to that end, we shall as a matterof urgency:

(a) initiate studiesleading to the establishmentof an African joint computerized

reservationsystem;

(b) take the necessarymeasuresto protect our local markets by requiring travel
agentsto usethe computerizedreservationsystemusedby our nationalcarriers;

(c) pending the creation of an African joint computerizedreservation system,

cooperatein selectinga systemoffering the best terms and conditions for our
airlinesand shall neeotiatecollectivelyfor its use:

(d) support the current efforts of ICAO which aim aT.the adoption, at the
internationallevel, of a code of conductfor the unbiaseduse of computerized
reservationsystemtaking into accountthe specificinterestsof our airlines.

AIRCRAFT NOISE

We agree to work out a common position regarding the adoption and application of
measuresconcerningaircraft noiserestrictionsin accordancewith our economicsituation.

We reaffirm our determinationto takeall the necessarystepsto preventthe introduction

into our countriesof aircra[t that are no longer in useelsewherebecauseof noise restrictions.

We also agreenot to imposerestrictionson aircraftpresentlyregisteredin Africa that

do not compiy with currentnoisestandards.

MECHANTSM FOR IMPLEMENTATIOI{ AND FOLLOW.UP

We hereby decide to entrust the task of coordinating the implementation of the

objectivessetout in this Declarationto the EconomicCommissionfor Africa. In this regard,
we requestthe EconomicCommissionfor Africa to liaisewith the Organizationof African
Unity, the African Civil Aviation Cornmission,the African Airlines Associationand other
organizationsconcerned.

We commit ourselvesto take all the necessarystepsto facilitate the implernentationof

this Declarationand to instructthe Ministersresponsiblefor Civil Aviation of the following
subregiollsto coordinatethis implementation:

North Africa Name of countryto communicatedto ECA later

East Africa United Republicof Tarzania
West Africa Republicof Côte d'Ivoire
Central Africa Republicof Gabon
SouthernAfrica Name of country to be communicatedto ECA later.
EiECA/TRANS177A
Page 6

Finally, we agreeto meetas often as possibleduring eachphaseof the intplelnentation

of the decisionswe have taken in order to assessprogressmade.

The following countrieswere represented:

Algeria
Benin
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Cape-Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Congo
Côte d'Ivoire
Egypt
Ethiopia
Gabon
Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
GuineaBissau
Equatorial Guinea
Kenya
Liberia
Libya
Madagascar
Mali
Morocco
Mauritius
Mauritania
Niger
Nigeria
Uganda
Rwanda
Senegal
Sierraleone
Somalia
Swaziland
Tanzania
Togo
Tunisia
Zatre
Zimbabwe