Bissau, Oct. 11, 2024 (Lusa) - The Guinea-Bissau minister for public works, construction and urban planning, José Carlos Esteves, stated on Friday that the government has ruled out the possibility of creating a national civil aviation company due to a lack of staff in the sector.
"Our civil aviation does not have the capacity to classify a company," said José Carlos Esteves, in an interview with Lusa to explain the details of the national development plan for the transport and logistics sector.
Last week, in the presence of some development partners from the international community in Bissau, the government presented the plan, which is still being drawn up to be implemented in 15 years.
The plan envisages building networks of roads, bridges and airports, but does not include the creation of airlines, as has been advocated by various governments in the past.
José Carlos Esteves, who until recently was Minister of Transport and Telecommunications, argued that the country does not currently have the internal competences to develop its own civil aviation company.
"Staff were trained in the aeronautical sector after independence, and as it is a specific sector, the state didn't pay attention to training new staff in this sector and today all the staff who are in the civil aviation sector are at retirement age," the minister emphasised.
For this reason, José Carlos Esteves considered that Guinea-Bissau is, for the time being, unable, in the light of international standards, to certify a flag carrier, pointing out that it takes between 20 and 30 years for senior staff in the sector to be trained.
"That's why we said, by investing in infrastructure, the companies will come," he argued.
The minister argued that Guinea-Bissau, instead of thinking about a flagship company, could adopt the strategy that many countries are adopting, namely joint ventures or taking a stake in existing companies.
José Carlos Esteves invited the people of Guinea-Bissau to put out of their minds the rehabilitation of the national airline TAGB (Transportes Aéreos da Guinea-Bissau), which existed until 1998.
"It doesn't have to be TAGB or that. We don't have the know-how for that. If we do, it's just flying in Guinea-Bissau, it's enough to go to Portugal and some places it's a stop," declared the minister.
José Carlos Esteves said he believed that if the country solves the problem of Osvaldo Vieira International Airport, which is "currently undergoing total redevelopment’ by a company from Turkey, there would be a significant increase in the arrival of ‘important world airlines’.
The minister pointed out that Guinea-Bissau's President, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, "has already practically tied up and agreed" with Emirates and Turkish Airlines the possibility of them flying to Bissau, "in a short time", with the completion of the works at the airport.
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