AASA Gets New Leadership. Now Comes the Difficult Part: Delivering Results

TAAG Angola Airlines CEO Miguel Caneiro takes the chair, with Air Botswana’s Bao Mosinyi as deputy. Their challenge? Turning Africa’s endless aviation promises into something passengers and airlines can actually use.

The Airlines Association of Southern Africa (AASA) has elected new leadership for the next 12 months, with Miguel Caneiro, Chief Executive Officer of TAAG Angola Airlines, appointed Chairperson and Dr Bao Mosinyi, General Manager of Air Botswana, elected Deputy Chairperson.

The appointments were confirmed at AASA’s 56th Annual General Meeting in Mauritius on 10 October 2026. They inherit an industry with enormous potential, a long list of obstacles and, if history is anything to go by, no shortage of meetings at which everyone agrees that something really ought to be done. The trick, of course, is getting it done.

AASA CEO Aaron Munetsi said the incoming leadership would guide the association’s engagement with governments, aviation regulators, airport operators, air navigation service providers and other industry stakeholders. The stated objective is to ensure that policies, regulations, services and infrastructure support competitive, financially viable, safe, secure and environmentally sustainable air transport, with better connectivity across Africa.

It is a sensible agenda. Unfortunately, sensible agendas are not exactly in short supply in African aviation. Tangible results are another matter. For all the talk of African integration, economic development and the enormous potential of the continent’s aviation market, getting from one African country to another can still be an unnecessarily expensive and complicated exercise.

Airlines must contend with taxes, airport charges, regulatory requirements, infrastructure limitations and the cost of operating in markets where demand may be strong enough to justify a route, but the economics do not always cooperate.

Then there is the familiar problem of cross-border connectivity. While governments regularly talk about making Africa more accessible, airlines still need commercially viable routes, workable operating conditions and sufficient demand to justify putting aircraft in the air. An agreement signed in a conference room does not automatically translate into another aircraft on the ramp, a new route on the departure board or cheaper tickets for passengers. Nor does declaring a commitment to regional integration make it happen.

If the new leadership wants to make a meaningful difference, these are the practical issues that need attention. Airlines do not need another year of carefully worded declarations about the importance of connectivity. They need an operating environment in which expanding connectivity makes commercial sense.

AASA's engagement with governments and regulators will remain central to its work. Taxes, charges, legislation and regulatory decisions have a direct impact on airline costs, which ultimately influence fares, route development and the financial sustainability of services.

For South African operators, these issues are particularly relevant. The country's aviation sector depends on effective coordination between airlines, the South African Civil Aviation Authority, Air Traffic and Navigation Services, airport operators and government. Every additional cost, operational restriction or administrative hurdle adds to the challenge of keeping air transport affordable and competitive.

Regulation is essential. Safety and security are non-negotiable. But regulation must also be proportionate, efficient and consistently applied. An industry cannot be expected to grow if the cost and complexity of operating continue to increase without a corresponding improvement in services or infrastructure.

The question for AASA is whether it can turn its collective industry voice into sufficient influence to change the conditions under which its members operate. That is where the difference between representation and results becomes rather important.

AASA's annual gathering in Mauritius attracted more than 200 delegates representing airlines, airports, air navigation service providers, regulators, manufacturers, suppliers and other aviation stakeholders. Airlink and South African Airways sponsored the event. It was an impressive cross-section of the industry, bringing together many of the organisations needed to make regional aviation work more effectively.

But here is the Flightline Weekly question: when the delegates have returned home, the presentations have ended and the conference badges have been packed away, what will actually have changed?

Will airlines face fewer unnecessary barriers? Will operating costs become more manageable? Will regional connectivity improve? Will infrastructure and air navigation services better support the industry's needs? These are the measures that matter, rather than the number of delegates who attended or the number of times the word connectivity appeared in a presentation.

Established in 1970, AASA represents 15 airline members and 42 associate members, including infrastructure providers, aircraft and engine manufacturers, fuel suppliers, ground handlers and other industry organisations. It also works with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the African Airlines Association (AFRAA), while representing regional airline industry interests at relevant International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) forums. That gives the association an established platform from which to influence aviation policy. The challenge is to use that platform effectively in a region where airlines frequently face problems that no single operator can solve alone.

Caneiro and Mosinyi will serve for 12 months, a relatively short period in which to tackle issues that have developed over decades. They cannot be expected to solve every structural problem facing African aviation, but they can help establish clear priorities, press for measurable commitments and hold the relevant stakeholders to account. AASA has elected its leadership, outlined its objectives and assembled the right people around the table. That is a start, but the aviation industry has never suffered from a shortage of meetings, declarations or ambitious plans. What it needs is execution.

For the next 12 months, the real test will not be whether AASA can explain why African aviation needs better connectivity. Everyone already knows that. The test is whether the association can help remove the barriers preventing it from happening. Because passengers cannot board a policy statement, airlines cannot pay their fuel bills with conference resolutions and another year of talking about connectivity will not magically put more aircraft on African routes.

The new chairperson and deputy have the mandate. Now they need to help deliver the results.