African governments are not in it for the money. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), a trade group, forecasts that carriers on the continent will lose $300m this year, or $3.51 per passenger. Planes fly with more empty seats than in any other region of the world. High taxes, expensive fuel and old aircraft add to costs. South African Airways survives on government bail-outs. In July Kenya’s parliament voted to fully nationalise Kenya Airways as part of a plan to rescue it from debt.
Joseph Muvawala, who heads the National Planning Authority in Uganda, says that governments see airlines as an investment in infrastructure. Technocrats hope that Uganda’s new airline will boost exports of fish and cut flowers, while pulling in tourist dollars, and will drive down high ticket prices on routes served by established carriers. Even if the airlines are unprofitable, the argument goes, the economy will gain.
Vir: The Economist
DAMIJAN blog 
Morda bi bilo pošteno prilepiti tudi naslednji odstavek iz članka?
“Such is the theory. In practice, airlines are bound up with ideas of national prestige. They stir a fuzzy feeling of patriotism in middle-class flyers (who get less excited about, say, rural roads). They can also become targets for political meddling. Some governments are pushing ahead with state-owned carriers even where the market is well served by private players, notes Raphael Kuuchi of iata. Ghana’s politicians are talking of a new airline, even though a private operator flies to seven destinations from Accra.”
Tudi zaključek je pomenljiv in pokaže, da je poanta članka drugje, kot bi avtor želel glede na umestitev v slovenski kontekst.
“Yet patriotic illusions persist. The Ugandan government is protecting its infant airline and has not signed up to the Single African Air Transport Market, which would liberalise regional aviation. Even the president says the ideal option would be to create an “East African Airways” with neighbouring countries. Politics stops that idea from taking off.”
Nič ne predpostavljam, kaj bi bilo potrebno storiti z Adrio. Le nekoliko zavajujoče se mi je zdelo.
Všeč mi jeVšeč mi je