Overland Airways, a leading Nigerian regional carrier, has achieved a significant milestone: securing Fifth Freedom rights from The Gambia’s Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). This allows the airline to operate flights from The Gambia to other destinations across West Africa, significantly boosting regional connectivity and aligning with the African Union’s Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) initiative.
The announcement was made on Saturday, December 24, 2024, by the Director-General of the GCAA, Nfansu Bojang, during the launch of Overland Airways‘ new service to The Gambia, utilizing a brand-new E-175 aircraft. This thrice-weekly service, operating via Freetown, marks a pivotal moment for Gambia’s air transport sector and underscores renewed efforts to enhance intra-African air travel through SAATM.
Mr. Bojang emphasized that as a SAATM Pilot Implementation Project (PIP) State and a founding member of the Banjul Accord Group (BAG), granting Overland Airways Fifth Freedom Traffic Rights through Freetown, in accordance with Article 3.1 of the Yamoussoukro Decision (YD), demonstrates Gambia’s unwavering commitment to SAATM ideals within the BAG sub-region.
The Fifth Freedom Aviation Right allows an aircraft from country A, on a service originating in country A, to embark and disembark passengers and cargo in country B and country C respectively. The GCAA believes that establishing a direct air link between Lagos and Banjul will bring substantial benefits to both nations, facilitating greater movement of people and driving economic growth.
The GCAA has pledged its full support to Overland Airways, promising incentives, rights on additional routes, and designations as needed to ensure the success of its Banjul operations. Mr. Bojang commended Overland Airways’ CEO, Capt. Edward Boyo, for his dedication to SAATM implementation and his efforts to streamline air travel within West Africa and across the continent.
He highlighted the importance of realizing the potential of SAATM: “The YD we know is more than three decades old and the one that came next is 15 years old now. Now, we have SAATM. SAATM is an AU project but we don’t want SAATM to be another ten years, we want SAATM to be now and for SAATM to be now, we must believe in ourselves and we as regulators and operators and service providers, we hold it to ourselves to support our airlines in any ways possible and one of the ways to do that is to make travel affordable to our citizens.”
Capt. Boyo echoed this sentiment, emphasizing Overland Airways’ role in making air travel more accessible and affordable under the AU AFCAC Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) program. He stated: “We are trying to make air transport affordable and available for everybody so that the African continent can progress in economy, trade and integration of people. We are committed to this service to develop the Nigerian and the Gambian economy.”
