FlightCom – August 2019

45 FlightCom Magazine

Industry Update

Guy Leitch

TOWARDS A SINGLE

AFRICAN AIRSPACE

S

OUTH Africa’s Air Traffic and Navigation

Services (ATNS) and L’Agence pour la Sécurité

de la Navigation Aérienne en Afrique et à

Madagascar (ASECNA), met for the first time

in South Africa - to review work done by a joint

Technical Committee, set up soon-after a ground-

breaking Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two

parties was signed early last year. The ASECNA delegation was

led by its Director General (DG), Mohamed Moussa. “This is an

enormous milestone for African aviation. This is indeed the Africa

we want” said Mohamed Moussa, ASECNA DG.

This meeting paves the way for single airspace management

in Africa. It took place in early June in Kempton Park, near

Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport.

The MoU provides for cooperation in air navigation-related

services. It further formalizes the interconnectivity between ATNS

SADC Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) and NAFISAT

networks managed by ATNS in Southern, Eastern and North Africa

and ASECNA’s AFISNET (the ASECNA VSAT network in West

Africa) networks). The MoU also makes provision for the exchange

of training programs and personnel, thereby sharing much-needed

expertise and experience.

“Here we are now – working hand-in-hand, towards safer

African skies and an integrated airspace” said an elated ATNS CEO

(Interim) Thomas Kgokolo - celebrating a momentous milestone in

ATNS’s twenty-five years history. Kgokolo further stated that “as an

Air Navigations Service Provider, we invest our resources wisely - in

air safety, research and development to name but a few. We do that

with due consideration, especially to other air navigation agencies

in Africa and elsewhere. ASECNA is no exception. We are aware of

the rapid technological advancements within the aviation industry.

When we do acquire and deploy such technology, our counterparts

in the region are roped in to become our strategic partners.”

He explained that ATNS “follows efficient air navigation

services practices as prescribed by global aviation bodies such as the

International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), International Air

Transport Association (IATA) and the Civil Air Navigation Services

Organization (CANSO)”. 

ASECNA DG, Mohamed Moussa and ATNS CEO

(Interim) Thomas Kgokolo with delegates.

A KEY DEVELOPMENT FOR IMPROVED INTRA-AFRICAN AIR CONNECTIVITY IS

SLOWLY MATERIALISING. THIS IS AN ESSENTIAL STEP TOWARDS THE GOAL OF

TRULY INTEGRATED AFRICAN AIRSPACE MANAGEMENT.