East African legislators have called for the full liberalization of the region's airspace in time for the 'Pamoja' Africa Cup of Nations in 2027, arguing that restrictive bilateral arrangements between member states will not cope with the traffic the tournament is expected to generate.

The push comes from members of the East African Legislative Assembly, the legislative arm of the East African Community, who want governments in the region to accelerate implementation of an open-skies framework rather than wait until the tournament exposes the cost of fragmented market access.

Why does AFCON 2027 create pressure on airspace rules?

The tournament, branded 'Pamoja', will be hosted jointly by East African states, meaning fans, teams, officials and media will move repeatedly across national borders within a compressed window. Under the current patchwork of bilateral air service agreements, carriers from one member state cannot freely mount flights — or in some cases carry fifth-freedom traffic — between two others.

That structure pushes connecting traffic through hubs outside the region and raises fares, because competition on intra-regional routes remains limited. Legislators argue the status quo is incompatible with a continental sporting event that depends on short-notice, high-volume regional travel.

What would liberalization change in practice?

Full liberalization of the regional airspace would allow airlines from East African Community member states to operate routes across the bloc without negotiating country-by-country access rights. The consequences legislators point to are straightforward:

• More direct intra-regional services, reducing circuitous routings through external hubs
• Lower fares through competition on routes currently served by one or two national carriers
• Additional capacity that can be deployed flexibly during the tournament period
• A faster flow of passengers between host cities during match scheduling windows

The legislators' position is that the deadline imposed by AFCON 2027 should serve as a forcing mechanism for reforms that regional policy has already endorsed in principle but delivered only partially in practice.

Is the region on track?

The question legislators are implicitly raising is one of execution. East African states have repeatedly committed to opening their skies to one another under regional integration frameworks, yet national interests — protection of flag carriers and revenue from negotiated traffic rights — have slowed implementation.

With the tournament now on a fixed calendar, the political calculation changes. Governments that delay liberalization risk congestion, high fares and logistical failures during an event that will draw regional and continental attention. Legislators want member states to treat 2027 not as an aspiration but as a hard operational deadline.

Aviation planners will be watching whether the scheduled carrier deployment for the tournament is built on newly liberalized access rights or on ad-hoc exemptions granted around the event. The former would leave a durable legacy in regional connectivity; the latter would solve the problem for a month and leave the underlying market restrictions intact.

The coming months will show whether East African governments convert the legislators' call into binding commitments before AFCON 2027 arrives.