Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform (GFN-SSR)

Air Transport and Destabilizing Commodity Flows

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Air transportation has played a key role in fuelling the war economies that have devastated much of Africa in recent decades. This article, by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, outlines the background to this problem, highlights how international action can be used to control destabilising or illicit commodity flows, and makes four specific recommendations. The article focuses on the important role European Union member states can play in, for example, denying contracts to companies involved in such activities.

Air transportation is instrumental in the transfer of small arms and light weapons (SALW) as well as in the extraction and transfer of precious minerals, metals and hydrocarbons. Air transportation actors are also important facilitators of illicit flows of illegal narcotics and tobacco. At the same time, those same air cargo carriers are also enmeshed in humanitarian aid, peace support, stability operations and defence logistics supply chains of United Nations agencies, European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). 

Transportation represents the ‘choke point’ for destabilising or illicit commodity flows. They are easier to trace than arms brokers, drug cartels or resource smugglers as they must legitimately register their aircraft, vessels and associated companies. As such, transporters are the only non-state actors required to operate overtly. This characteristic makes them possible to track via databases, flight and maritime records and field research and subject to control.

• The EU, through its institutions, legislation, member states and European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) is uniquely placed to influence the behaviour of these actors.
• Existing EU air safety mechanisms have already effectively targeted a wide range of companies named as involved in SALW flows by banning them from EU airspace. Such companies are thus prevented from accessing the world’s largest regulated market.
• EU institutions, member states, NGOs and other partners can reinforce these ‘market denial’ trends by adding ethical transportation clauses to contracts.
• ESDP missions can effectively support evolving EU information-sharing efforts through the insertion of pre-departure and in-country training modules that sensitize ESDP personnel to non-governmental air and maritime transportation issues.

The article makes the following recommendations:

• The EU and member states should deny humanitarian aid, peace support, stability operations and defence logistics supply chain contracts to air transport companies engaged in destabilising or illicit commodity flows, in particular the transfer of SALW.
• The EU should support the efforts of African partners to improve air safety through the provision of ‘dual-use’ transport development capacity – building projects that specifically target unsafe air cargo companies engaged in destabilising commodity flows.
• ESDP mission planning and operational structures should take into account the key role of air transport companies in many ESDP mission areas and provide the requisite sensitisation, awareness and reporting training.
• The EU’s air safety mechanism should be refined and resourced to take account of the evasion techniques used by unsafe air cargo companies seeking to access EU markets.

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