:: PRESIDENTS' ADDRESS

:: MESSAGE FROM THE CAASA PRESIDENT, JOHAN NELL

Aviation in South Africa is on a high crest presently despite the economic slowdown. The order book for new aircraft amongst all the dealers in SA has never been this full. The non availability of new machines is prevalent amongst all manufacturers! Some manufacturers can only deliver by 2012. The upbeat tourist industry adds to this. Tourism in South Africa grew by 8.3% in 2007 according to Gopa SA, which is higher than the world average of 6.6%. Last year, more than 9 million tourists visited South Africa, up from a level of 6.5 million in 2003. This has benefited the local Airline industry as all have posted good financial figures except the national carrier that has asked Government to bail them out to the tune of more than R5 billion. The question was posed as to how much longer the SA taxpayers must subsidise the national carrier?

Following structurally higher GDP growth of 5% per annum between 2004 and 2007, South Africa’s economic growth rate is expected to slow down to approximately 4% in 2008, rising back to 5% in 2009. Reasons for optimism over a quick recovery include the prospects for inflation to peak before the end of the year, which will pave the way for lower interest rates. Furthermore, capital formation by both the private sector and the public sector continues to grow at high levels, due to capacity constraints in a variety of sectors and the preparations for the Soccer World Cup finals.

The down side our aviation sector is experiencing is that we are running out of capacity. A lot of our experienced personnel are being pinched by the expanding overseas markets and especially the Middle East. This is pushing up our costs and cutting deep into our profits. Urgent attention needs to be given to address this situation. As the previous president said “Our challenge will be to work together in developing a consolidated industry view of the respective roles of the public and private sectors in ensuring strong and sustained growth in the industry.”

The executive leadership at CAASA will strive to cut through a lot of the red tape and work alongside Government bodies to harmonise the industry to the benefit of all. Aviation has shown worldwide that it is a strong catalyst for growth and this is more prevalent in SA.