Written by Chinedu Eze | From This Day Live

Air transport buoys the economy of every nation and national carriers provide extra stimulus to that economic growth and development of other sectors like tourism and export. But all over the world, national carriers are very difficult to manage.

The reasons are not far-fetched. They don’t run out rightly as a private concern zeroed at making profit. For example, Ethiopia Airlines subsidises air fares for inter country flights. Secondly, the government helps them to sustain their operations; for example, government may deploy funds to the airline like in the case of South Africa Airways or can guaranty single digit, long term loans like in most European carriers. The government may always be willing to cancel their debts. This is because it is believed that a nation’s economy thrives on the wings of its national carrier.

But national carriers may not be wholly owned by government. The government may have stakes in the national carrier or may just stamp its authority of ownership when the stakes are owned by private concerns. Whichever the case may be, it remains the responsibility of government to ensure the national carrier thrives byeither exempting it from taxes, helping it negotiate or negotiate on its behalf international routes and gives it diplomatic cover whenever necessary; just as the airline carries out diplomatic responsibility for the country.

There are invaluable gains a national carrier provides for the country that owns it and these are what a country that does not have a national carrier will continue to miss. You cannot have sound technical manpower at surplus number without a national carrier because a national airline provides a training ground for manpower development. Some countries’ national carriers like Ethiopia airlines, Kenya Airways export aviation skilled manpower like pilots, aeronautical engineers, cabin crew officers because they have a long tradition of successfully training personnel in their various training institutions established on behalf of their national carriers. No private airline can go into such non-profitable, almost altruistic ventures.

Precarious State

Regrettably, national carriers in the world have fallen. While many European countries were able to resuscitate theirs by governments divesting their interests and still retained the airlines’ powers as national airline, African nations allowed theirs to go into oblivion. European countries still have British Airways, Alitalia, Air France/KLM still operate as national airlines although their stakes are predominantly owned by private interests.

African airlines were unsuccessful in doing that, except Kenya Airways that is partly owned by KLM that provides it the needed technical and managerial manpower.

In Africa, there are about 15 national carriers that still exist but only Ethiopian Airlines still operate profitably while others generate revenue. The national carriers that still thrive in Africa include Ethiopia Airlines, Air Algiers, Air Maroc, Egypt Air, Kenya Airways, Rwand Air and South Africa Airways.

Others are Air Seychelles, Air Namibia, Madagascar Airline, TAAG Angola and Air Mozambique and others

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