The Airline Manager said the removal of all restrictions on air agreements among African countries will enable African carriers spread their tentacles across the continent.
Speaking in an interview with The Nation, she said the single airspace policy is accelerated, the challenge of intra – African connections, which has been a nightmare to many passengers, would be eliminated, she said
According her, this informed the various initiatives by players in the sector to promote the Single Sky Policy, which is expected to give opportunity to not very strong African carriers to leverage with the stronger carriers from Eastern and Southern Africa.
She canvassed the pooling of resources among African countries to build aircraft maintenance facilities. Such facilities, she argued, would not only reduce the individual cost of aircraft maintenance, but create a pool of expertise in aircraft maintenance on the continent.
Odunsi said a review of some policies by the government of some African countries would assist the growth and development of African carriers and, ultimately, create more competition on the continent.
She described Rwanda Air’s operations in Nigeria in the last four years as phenomenal, because of the gaps the carrier has filled in providing air transport services.
She said if more African carriers are encouraged through policy reviews, fares on routes within and outside the continent would reduce significantly, because some passengers have to travel to Europe first before they could access some African countries because of poor flight connectivity.
She said Rwanda Air has remained relevant on Nigerian route because the carrier has kept its promise to passengers, who are daily asking for improved services. She added that healthy competition among African carriers would help to grow carriers on the continent.
