Air Canada airplanes stand on the tarmac at Pearson International Airport in Toronto on August 16, 2025. Air Canada cancelled hundreds of flights Saturday as it began shutting down operations in response to a strike by flight attendants — triggering summer travel chaos for its 130,000 daily passengers. Canada’s largest airline, which flies directly to 180 cities worldwide, urged customers not to go to the airport if they have a ticket for Air Canada or its lower-cost subsidiary Air Canada Rouge. (Photo by Peter POWER / AFP)
•Says taxes, policy bottlenecks threaten aviation in Africa
•Urges more govt action on safety
By Dickson Omobola
At the just concluded 82nd International Air Transport Association, IATA, Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Regional Vice President for Africa and Middle East at IATA, Kamil Al-Awadhi, ranked Nigeria and Afghanistan as one of the most difficult places to establish and sustain an airline business due to the high operating costs. Beyond that, while addressing newsmen, he also shared insights on reasons African countries need to implement the Single African Air Transport Market, SAATM, and the financial challenges facing African airlines, among other issues. Excerpts:
