South Africa : opening of the sky and take-off of tourism

Since Israel’opened up’ its skies to airline competition, the volume of flights has been steadily increasing and prices have been falling, much to the delight of passengers.

Why not copy this good recipe in South Africa ?
In his article, Chris Hattingh observes with envy the Israeli example of Open Sky and dreams for his country, South Africa, which suffocates under the benefits of its national airline South African Airways surviving on public subsidies. The author advocates opening up to competition in order to develop trade and tourism.

In 2013, Israel signed an Open Sky agreement with the European Union.
The objectives were to increase the number of foreign airlines operating in the country, increase the number of routes served, reduce fares and stimulate tourism.
Since then, Israel’s total number of international tickets has increased by 46% between 2012 and 2016, from 6,441,569 to 9,399,299. Capacity increased again to a record 11,041,535 in 2017.
Imagine what Open Sky could bring to South Africa’s tourism industry!

A fruitful opening
This incredible growth can be attributed to low cost carriers entering the market, thanks to a more favourable institutional framework. EasyJet has become the third most active airline at Ben Gurion Airport. Greek airlines Aegean Airlines, Hungarian Wizz Air, Turkish Airlines and the Russian airline Aeroflot all recorded significant passenger growth. The success of Open Sky has even led to the possibility of opening up to flights (by foreign airlines) on local routes in the country, for example, between Tel Aviv and Eilat. These airlines could also be allowed to establish local intervention bases at Israeli airports in the future.

Israeli travellers: the big winners
Israeli travellers have benefited the most from the impact. With the increase in the number of low-cost airlines operating from a wider variety of foreign locations, Israelis have been able to travel cheaper, which has allowed them to increase their quality of life and spend more on their activities at the places of stay. The easier it is for people to travel to and from a country, the greater the chance they will use their money to do so. South Africa, with its tourism industry just waiting to be liberated, could see incredible growth in foreign travelers and benefit from job creation if it also opted for Open Sky.

The plurality of offers for passengers’ peace of mind
In South Africa, there are a handful of private airlines that are struggling to survive in an environment where the government artificially maintains South African Airways through subsidies. This choice is not strategic because competition and the presence of a strong private sector is an advantage. Take the recent collapse of SAX (Kenya), for example, which could have been disastrous for its passengers. It was the private sector, with Comair, SA Airlink and a few smaller companies, that took over all SAX schedules overnight to ensure continuity of service. While passengers could have had delayed or blocked flights, the situation remained fluid thanks to the existence of a diversified offer offered by the dynamics of the private sector, often condemned.

The success of Open Sky in Israel cannot be disputed. In 2016, 17.3 million international passengers passed through Ben Gourion airport, compared with 12.4 million in 2012. Over the first four months of 2017, passenger traffic increased by 20% compared to the same period in 2016. In April 2017 Ben Gourion airport received 25% more passengers than in April 2016.

In South Africa, limited competition in the transport industry is regrettable. The government should adopt an Open Sky policy and facilitate as much as possible the operation and competitiveness of local and foreign airlines. This would result in more choice and better prices for the South African traveller, while stimulating tourism.