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努力建设西非次区域航空枢纽




努力建设西非次区域航空枢纽

文|埃德蒙·史密斯·阿桑蒂(Edmund Smith-Asante) 加纳 《每日写真报》记者

 导 读 

加纳逐渐成为西非地区的首选目的地和航空枢纽,科托卡国际机场T3航站楼有望发挥重要作用

T3航站楼

加纳航空面临挑战

非洲单一航空运输市场启动

作用及意义

 “请大家注意:乘坐EK788次航班的旅客,请办理登机手续后,前往三号登机口登机。”一声铃响后,我头顶的扩音器传出女广播员的声音。

虽然这是我第一次使用科托卡国际机场现代化的T3航站楼设施,但因为有过飞行经历,这一切对我来说如此熟悉。T3航站楼现代化的建筑风格、质量和美感可与全球任何国际机场设施相提并论,尽管其规模可能无法与中国北京首都国际机场、荷兰阿姆斯特丹史基浦机场、德国法兰克福国际机场,亦或是阿联酋迪拜国际机场等等国际知名机场相比。

T3航站楼

加纳的航空业一直在稳步发展,T3航站楼的建设由加纳上届政府于2015年10月30日启动,于2018年6月29日,本届政府任期内完工,费用共计2.5亿美元,是对该国最常用的航空运输设施的最新改进和加强。

该航站楼吞吐量达到每小时1250名旅客,每年总计约500万人次,配备了六个登机桥位、一个大型购物区、三个商务休息室和专用过境设施。T3航站楼共5层,占地面积45,000平方米,设有700个停车位,6个E类飞机近机位和2个远机位。出发层有56个值机柜台、30个护照检查中心和8个安检口。到达层有24个入境柜台、4个电子护照入境口(可扩展到8个)和4个行李提取台。该航站楼配备了全自动行李处理系统,以3,500袋每小时的速度处理到达和过境行李。

航站楼拥有一个可容纳50人的商务贵宾休息室,旨在向期望能够更加便捷舒适地进出港的乘客们提供有偿手续办理服务。加纳航空有限公司董事总经理约翰·迪克爱姆·阿塔福阿先生在接受采访时表示,“加纳逐渐成为西非地区的首选目的地和航空枢纽,科托卡国际机场T3航站楼有望发挥重要作用。该航站楼内的现代化设施,将毫无疑问地使科托卡国际机场跻身该地区设施最完善机场之列。事实上,这符合加纳航空有限公司发展愿景,该公司认为,加纳将成为西非地区航空枢纽和机场业务的领导者。”他还补充道,T3航站楼将使科托卡国际机场成为次区域航空业领导者,“科托卡国际机场符合政府将其建设成西非次区域航空枢纽的愿景。”

阿塔福阿先生说,加纳决心吸引更多航空公司加入,我们应该开拓新航线,目前正在寻求吸引来自中国和南美的投资。

该航站楼融资部分来自非洲开发银行、南非开发银行和加纳基础设施基金提供的为期15年的2亿美元贷款,部分来自泛非经济银行加纳有限公司领衔的本地和外国财团提供的2亿美元商业贷款。贷款包含在加纳航空有限公司基础设施建设计划经费内,没有任何资助或加纳政府担保,该计划还包括科托卡国际机场其他场所的扩建和升级改造,以及国内其他机场的修复和升级,还有新机场的建设,比如霍城机场、伏尔塔机场等。

新航站楼的信息技术经理维沙兰戈文达先生说,与旧航站楼不同,新的T3航站楼已经完全计算机化。“我们已经从传统的手动处理旅客信息方式转变为电子平台处理,这是机场处理程序功能性和操作性的巨大转变。”

在旅客吞吐量方面,截至2015年底,科托卡接待了1,667,675名国际旅客,据加纳机场有限公司统计,比2014年高出17,155。这个数字2018年增加到1,975,803,截至2019年二季度,总计980,811,其中科托卡国际机场国际旅客进出港量分别为481,459和499,352。在货运方面,2007年为59,510吨,2018年降至52,390吨,截至2019年二季度,货运量已达到12,396,240吨。2011年,乘坐国内航班的旅客为10,091人,2013年这一数字达到峰值,即18,497人,但此后直线下降,到2018年,该数字仅为10,140,包括5070的进、出港人数。2019年前两个季度,选择本地航班的旅客数量为8,208,如果这种趋势持续到年底,则有望超过2018年。

加纳航空面临挑战

由于经营成本提高,而乘客无法负担高昂的票价,许多航空公司对国内航线的投资大打折扣,国内航线的不景气便不足为奇。2013年,加纳本地旅客吞吐量最高的航空公司:540航空有限公司、Starbow航空公司、Citi
Link和Antrak航空,现在都已不再运营,仅存的是非洲世界航空和热情航空。

非洲世界航空自2012年在加纳阿克拉完成首航,它是中国海航集团、中非发展基金、加纳社会安保、国家保险信托以及加纳战略非洲证券于2012年共同建立的。非洲世界航空合作伙伴关系不仅是海航集团在非洲的第一笔务实投资,同时也是中国企业在非洲的第一笔航空业投资。

加纳有1个大型国际机场和4个国内机场,位于阿克拉的科托卡国际机场和库马西、塔马莱、塔科拉迪和瓦机场,在博诺地区的苏尼亚尼也设有飞机跑道。为了进一步改善加纳航空业,阿库福·阿多领导的现任政府承诺升级现有机场设施,并在没有机场的地区建造新机场。

尽管阿克拉的科托卡已经能够支持国际航线,库马西和塔马莱(北部)机场还是被升级为国际机场。迄今为止,塔马利机场仅用于将穆斯林朝圣者运往沙特阿拉伯麦加。

2019年10月15日,升级为机场的瓦机场跑道向商业航班开放,目前仅有的两家国内航空公司之一的非洲世界航空在试飞之后将其安博威145成为该机场首个商业航班。

加纳航空部长约瑟夫·科菲·阿达表示,2018年10月以来,政府一直考虑在中部、西部和上东部地区建设商业机场。他同时宣布,政府正在与国内航空公司谈判,以使用沃尔塔地区胡岛的闲置机场,而库马西和塔马利机场的二期工程正在进行中。为确保充分利用这些机场,阿达先生说,已要求加纳民航局采取措施,确保已经申请执照的新航空公司开始运营。

加纳面临的挑战不仅在于国内航空公司的运营。尽管加纳在确保空中旅行安全,并在其主要国际机场——科托卡提供世界标准的设备和设施方面,获得了全球赞誉,但建设与加纳航空时代相适应的国家航空公司仍然任重道远。自从原加纳航空公司和加纳国际航空公司脱胎并独立运营以来,加纳政府已经为建立一家可持续发展,且盈利的航空公司做了三次尝试。

加纳航空公司成立于1958年,以科托卡国际机场为枢纽,几十年来一直是国家航空公司。然而,这家饱受债务困扰的航空公司于2004年停止运营,在尝试恢复运营失败后,于2005年6月进行清算。加纳航空公司倒闭后,在私人投资者的支持下,于2004年成立加纳国际航空公司,但在经历困境后最终于2010年5月停止运营。

加纳政府毫不畏惧,再次提出了一项新的计划,与具有国际运营经验的承运人合作,寻求运营利益。加纳交通运输部部长特瓦马西·安科拉·塞尔比说:“政府正努力推进该计划,因为我们知道,对于实现将科托卡国际机场建成国际航空枢纽这个目标来说,建立航空公司有多重要。”

2018年10月10日,在加纳航空有限公司第六届年度股东大会上,阿达先生表示,公司已制定计划,准备建立一家由私营公司入股的加纳国内航空公司。实际上,早在2016年初,加纳政府就邀请了有兴趣建立战略合作伙伴关系的国际航空公司,欲在阿克拉建设加纳航空巨头,埃塞俄比亚航空、毛里求斯航空和本土航空公司非洲世界航空公司都对此表示了兴趣。

在交通部、航空部和加纳机场进行了长达一年的评估之后,交通部宣布选择埃塞俄比亚航空公司为建立新加纳国家航空公司的战略合作伙伴。埃塞俄比亚航空公司已经在洛美、多哥和马拉维、利隆圭建立了地区枢纽,并与赞比亚、乍得和几内亚政府合作建立了新的航空公司。埃塞俄比亚莫桑比克航空公司是埃塞俄比亚人在莫桑比克建立的一家新航空公司,于2018年12月1日开始运营。该公司预计将在2019年底或2020年初开始运营,其中加纳政府将拥有10%的股份,加纳的私人投资者将拥有至少41%的股份,埃塞俄比亚航空公司拥有49%的股份。来自其他西非国家的投资公司也可能投资该新公司的国内、地区和国际航班。

非洲单一航空运输市场启动

在非洲,并不是只有加纳在航空领域作出巨大努力,西非邻国,及整个非洲地区的其他国家也都在努力角逐航空业,以期与其他国家无缝连接。目前,飞往欧洲和美洲国家比到非洲其他国家要容易,在某些情况下,旅客甚至必须从欧洲转机到另一个非洲国家。为了消除航空业发展障碍,并进一步促进非洲大陆的一体化,非洲联盟在2018年1月在非洲联盟国家元首和政府首脑大会第三十次首脑会议期间,建立并启动了非洲单一航空运输市场。非洲单一航空运输市场是非盟2063议程的旗舰项目,旨在充分促进实现非洲国家五种空中自由。非洲单一航空运输市场全面运行后,任何一家“有资格”的非洲国家航空公司或航空承运人只需简单的事先通知程序,便可以飞入另一个非洲国家的领空并在其领土上降落。到目前为止,有27(28)个国家承诺加入非洲单一航空运输市场。截至2017年6月第29届大会前夕,已有21个会员国签署了庄严承诺,成为非洲单一航空运输市场成员,到2019年7月31日,这一数字已增至28个,包括贝宁、博茨瓦纳、佛得角、刚果、科特迪瓦、埃及、埃塞俄比亚、加蓬、加纳、几内亚、肯尼亚、利比里亚、马里、莫桑比克、尼日利亚、卢旺达、塞拉利昂,南非、斯威士兰、多哥和津巴布韦、冈比亚、尼日尔、莱索托、布基纳法索、中非共和国、乍得和喀麦隆。

作用及意义

非洲单一航空运输市场将持续提升安全性,不断协调完善法规政策,优化地面和空中基础设施,并简化出入关程序以确保畅通。它还力求减少税收和收费以增强竞争力,提升员工能力、跨部门合作能力,消除对市场的无形障碍。5个东非共同体国家(乌干达、卢旺达、布隆迪,坦桑尼亚和肯尼亚)之间的一项成本效益研究表明,成员国之间的航空运输充分自由化会增加46,320个工作岗位、每年增加2.021亿美元国民生产总值收入,交通运输量增加46%,票价平均降低9%,班次频率平均提高41%。
国际航空运输协会的数据显示,已加入非洲单一航空运输市场的28个国家和地区占非洲现有航空市场的80%以上。

⬆阿联酋航空公司飞机降落在加纳科托卡机场T3航站楼  图片提供:埃德蒙·史密斯·阿桑蒂



英文版



Making Ghana’s airport hub in the West African sub-region

By Edmund Smith-Asante  Journalist for Daily Graphic, Ghana

May I please have your attention. Passengers travelling on flight EK788 should please conclude departure formalities and proceed to gate three, a female voice bellowed from speakers above me after a bell tone had sounded.

It was all so familiar to me as I had had previous opportunities to travel by air. That notwithstanding, it was my first time using the most modern Terminal 3 facility of the Kotoka International Airport (KIA). Terminal 3 matches any international airport facility worldwide in terms of its modern architecture, quality and sheer beauty though it may not compare in size with China’s Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA), Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, Frankfurt’s International Airport or Dubai’s International Airport, just to name a few.

Terminal 3

Ghana’s aviation industry has seen steady improvement over the past years and the construction of Terminal 3, which begun during the term of Ghana’s immediate past government on October 30, 2015 and was completed on June 29, 2018 under the current administration at a cost of US$250 million is the latest enhancement to the country’s most used air transport facility.

It has the capacity to handle 1,250 passengers an hour., which adds up to about five million passengers a year. The facility is equipped with six boarding bridges and seven links (expandable to eight in the future), a large commercial and retail area, three business lounges and purpose built transit facilities.

It has five levels spread across 45,000 square meters and has parking space for 700 cars. It has six contact stands for Code E aircraft and two remote stands. At the departure level it has 56 check-in desks, 30 passport control centres and eight security lanes. At the Arrival level it has 24 immigration counters, four e-gate positions [expandable to eight] and four reclaim devices.
The terminal is equipped with a fully automated baggage handling system to handle both destination and transit luggage at 3,5OO bags an hour.

A Commercially Important Person (CIP) passenger lounge facility, which can host 50 people, has been added to the new facility.
The key objective of the CIP is to offer specialised and luxury services to passengers who anticipate more comfort during their arrival and departure formalities at a fee.

In an interview when the facility was opened, the Managing Director of the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), Mr John Dekyem Attafuah, said the CIP offered a unique travel experience with enhanced privacy and personalised assistance from curbside to airside.

Mr Attafuah explained that help agents had also been trained to cater for the needs of first-time passengers who might find it difficult accessing e-services.

“Terminal 3 at Kotoka International Airport promises to be the game-changer as Ghana inches closer to become the destination of choice and the preferred aviation hub in West Africa.

“The terminal is designed to have modern facilities that will undoubtedly position KIA among the best equipped airports in the region. In fact, it fits into the GACL’s vision of positioning the country as the preferred aviation hub and leader in the airport business in West Africa,” Mr Attafuah said.

He added that the project would position KIA as the lead airport in the sub-region saying that “it feeds into the government’s vision of making KIA the aviation hub in the West African sub-region.”

Mr Attafuah said Ghana’s resolve to attract more airlines to operate from Ghana was one of the reasons which had led to the recent organisation of the Route 12 conference in Accra.

“We should be able to develop new routes to new destinations. We are currently looking at attracting investments from China and South America,” Mr Attafuah disclosed.

Financing for the project was provided in part from a US$200 million loan provided by the African Development Bank, the Development Bank of South Africa and the Ghana Infrastructure Fund with a 15-year tenor and in part from part of a US$200 million syndicated commercial loan provided by a consortium of local and foreign banks led by Ecobank Ghana Limited.

The loans were provided to GACL without any support or Ghana government guarantee and it was for a wider infrastructural agenda of GACL, which includes the expansion and upgrade of other parts of the KIA, as well as the rehabilitation and upgrade of other airports around the country and the development of new ones, notably the Ho Airport in the Volta Region.

The Manager in charge of Information Technology at the new terminal and also in charge of IT at the Airport Company of South Africa (ACSA), Mr Vishalan Govender, said that unlike the old terminals, the new Terminal 3 had been fully computerised.

“We have fully moved from the traditional manual processing of passengers to electronic platforms. This is a great mind shift from functionality and operability of the procedures at the airport.”

In terms of passenger throughput, Kotoka handled just 1,667,675 international passengers at the end of 2015. According to statistics from the Ghana Airport Company Limited this figure is 17,155 higher than that of 2014.

The 2015 figure increased to 1,975,803 in 2018 and according to statistics from GACL, as of the first two quarters of 2019, a total of 980,811, comprising 481,459 for arrivals and 499,352 for departures were the number of passengers who used the KIA for international travel.

Total freight which was 59,510 tonnes in 2007 decreased to 52,390 in 2018 and as of the first two quarters of 2019 had reached 12,396,240 tonnes.Passengers who used domestic flights for travel were 10,091in 2011. This number peaked to 18,497 in 2013 but has since plummeted and was 10,140 comprising an equal number of 5,070 for both departures and arrivals in 2018. The first two quarters of 2019 show 8,208 as the number of passengers who used local flights and if the trend continues then the 2018 figure may be surpassed by year end.

Ghana Airlines faces challenges

The low level of domestic air travel is not surprising, as many airlines that have ventured into the domestic market have folded up largely due to increase in the cost of operation which is difficult to pass on to the passenger who cannot afford high fares.
The Fly 540, Starbow, Citi Link and Antrak airlines that flew passengers across the country in 2013 which accounted for the highest local passenger throughput in the country are no longer airborne. The only airlines in the air now are Africa World Airlines (AWA) and Passion Air.

AWA, the oldest of the two has stayed in the skies since 2012, most probably due to its partnership with China’s HNA Group, the China-Africa Development Fund, Ghana Social Security and National Insurance Trust and the Ghana Strategic African Securities signed at the Fourth Conference of Chinese and African Entrepreneurs of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) on July 19, 2012.

The AWA partnership is not only the first practical investment made by HNA Group in Africa, but also the first aviation investment made by a Chinese enterprise in Africa.  

Ghana has one major international airport and four domestic airports. The Kotoka International Airport in Accra, the Kumasi, Tamale,

Takoradi and Wa airports. Sunyani in the Bono Region also has an airstrip.

To further improve air travel in Ghana, the current Akufo-Addo-led government has pledged to upgrade existing airport facilities in the other regions and build new ones where they do not exist at all.

The Kumasi (Ashanti) and Tamale (Northern) aerodromes have been upgraded to international airports, although Kotoka in Accra continues to receive international flights. The Tamale Airport has so far only been used to airlift Muslim pilgrims to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

Recently on October 15, 2019, the Wa airstrip which has been upgraded to an airport was opened to commercial flights with one of only two domestic airlines currently flying, AWA, landing its Embraer 145 for the first commercial flight after the commissioning.

Since October 2018, the government has been considering the construction of commercial airports in the Central, Western and Upper

East regions, Ghana’s Minister of Aviation, Mr Joseph Kofi Adda, announced.
He also announced that the government was negotiating with domestic airlines to begin using the idle airport in Ho in the Volta Region while work on phase two of the Kumasi and the Tamale airports was underway.

To ensure that those airports were fully utilised, Mr Adda said, the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCCA), had been directed to put in place measures that would enable new local airlines that had applied for licences start operations.

Ghana’s challenge has not only been with the operation of local airlines. Although the government of Ghana has received commendations globally and many awards for ensuring safety in air travel across its airspace and providing world standard equipment and facilities at its major international airport – Kotoka, the establishment of a national airline as pertained in the era of Ghana Airways has continued to be difficult.

The government’s latest attempt to establish a sustainable and profitable airline is the third since independence following the demise of the erstwhile Ghana Airways and Ghana International Airlines.

Founded in 1958, Ghana Airways was for decades the national airline, with KIA as its hub. However, the airline which was ridden with debt, ceased operations in 2004. Attempts were made to revive its fortunes, but to no avail and in June 2005 it was liquidated.

With the support of private investors, Ghana International Airlines (GIA) was established in 2004 after Ghana Airways collapsed. The airline faced difficulties and eventually suspended its operations in May 2010.

Undaunted, the government of Ghana has proposed a new arrangement, in which it is seeking a carried interest and a partner with experience in running an international carrier.

“As a government we are going ahead with the arrangement, because we know the importance of establishing the airline for our objective of establishing KIA as an aviation hub,” the Chief Director of Ghana’s Ministry of Transport, Mr Twumasi Ankrah-Selby said.
Speaking at the sixth annual general meeting of GACL in Accra on October 10, 2018, Mr Adda said plans were advanced for the establishment of a home-based carrier, with private sector participation, to fly the Ghana flag.

Indeed, earlier in 2016 the government of Ghana invited international airlines which were interested in forging a strategic partnership to establish a home-based national carrier in Accra. Ethiopian Airlines, Air Mauritius and indigenous carrier Africa World Airline presented their expression of interest to the Ghanaian Ministry of Transport.

After a year-long evaluation by the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Aviation and Ghana Airports, the Ministry of Transport announced its selection of Ethiopian Airlines as the preferred airline for the strategic partnership for the establishment of the new national airline of Ghana.

The airline and the Ghana government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in December 2018 and finalised the agreement in May this year towards the establishment of the home-based airline Ghanaian airline.

Ethiopian Airlines has already established a regional hub in Lomé, Togo and Lilongwe, Malawi and has partnered the governments of Zambia, Chad and Guinea to establish new airlines. Ethiopian Mozambique, a new home-based airline established by Ethiopian in Mozambique, started operation on December 1, 2018.

For the airline that is expected to be airborne by the end of 2019 or early 2020, the government of Ghana will have a ten per cent stake while private investors from Ghana will have a minimum of 41 per cent stake and Ethiopian Airlines 49 per cent, in the Joint Venture Company. Investment firms from other West African countries may also invest in the new venture which will involve operating domestic, regional and international flights.

Single African Air Transport Market

Ghana is not alone in its push for aviation space. West African neighbour as well other countries in the entire Africa region are also struggling to stay in the skies and connect seamlessly with other countries.

At the moment it is easier to connect to countries in Europe and the Americas than connecting to other African countries by air. A traveler in some instances has to even connect a flight to another African country from a European country.

It is to help remove the barriers to air travel and further promote integration on the African continent that the African Union established and launched the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) during its 30th Ordinary Summit of the African Union Assembly of Heads of States and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from January 28 to 29, 2018.

The SAATM, which is the AU’s Agenda 2063 flagship project is an initiative that fully promotes the free exercise of the first, second, third, fourth and fifth Freedoms of the Air. 

When the SAATM is fully operational, an “eligible” airline or air carrier from one African country can simply fly into another African country’s airspace and land on its territory using only a simple prior notification procedure.

So far, twenty-seven (28) countries are currently subscribed to the SAATM solemn commitment.

As of the eve of the 29th Assembly in June 2017, 21 Member States had signed the solemn commitment to be part of SAATM but by July 31, 2019 the number had increased to 28. The countries are Benin, Botswana, Capo Verde, Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea Conakry, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Togo and Zimbabwe.

Others are Gambia, Niger, Lesotho, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad and Cameroon.

Benefits

The SAATM will among others ensure the continuous improvement in Safety and Security, regulatory and policy harmonization, optimised infrastructure for both ground and air and the ease of intra-African mobility via Visas/customs.
It also seeks to reduce taxes and charges to enhance competitiveness, enhance human capacity development, multi-sector collaboration and remove nonphysical barriers to the market.

A similar cost-benefit study among the five East African Committee (EAC) countries (Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and Kenya) also provides evidence that complete liberalisation of air transport among the EAC Member States could result in an addition 46,320 jobs, US$202.1 million per annum gain in GDP, traffic increase by 46 per cent, fares reduction by nine per cent on average and increase in frequency by 41 per cent on average.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the 28 countries that have subscribed to SAATM, represent over 80 per cent of the existing aviation market in Africa.

编辑 | 张  梅

翻译 | 周  佳

设计 | 高  蕊