The TBCSA spent a considerable amount of effort in the 2006 year to apply pressure to changing the status quo around both the issues of Airlift and of land transportation. This involved sitting on committees, attending meetings and generally making the voice of the industry loudly heard for a change to support greater in-bound tourism.

This action resulted in the development of the new Airlines Policy which was released in late August 2006. The new policy has been aligned to support tourism growth objectives although we are still a long way from an "open skies" policy.

In light of this an agreement was reached in 2006 that the Airline Task team to proceed with research to provide more scientific information and evidence to support industry call for South African skies to be liberalised.

The research is intended to add more impetus to the industry positioning document on aviation and air access which was submitted to government in collaboration with SA Tourism in 2006. We also continue to lobby government for a seat on the committee which looks at Aviation policy matters to ensure we keep a strong involvement on this issue moving forward.

HAVE YOUR SAY:

WHAT IS YOUR POINT OF VIEW ABOUT THE STATE OF AIR TRANSPORT IN SOUTH AFRICA AND ITS EFFECT ON TOURISM?