The representative body for the global airline industry, the International Air Transport Association (Iata), has affirmed its support for the African Union’s (AU’s) campaign to safely restart commercial aviation across the continent. The campaign is called ‘Saving Lives, Economies and Livelihoods’ and seeks to encourage different sectors of African governments, such as Health, Transport and Information Technology Ministries and agencies, to work together to restore civil aviation operations.

During the Covid-19 pandemic crisis last year, African air passenger demand fell by 69% (compared with a 66% drop in global air passenger demand). African air passenger capacity went down by 61% (the global figure was 57%). At the depth of the crisis, African air connectivity collapsed by 90% and African airlines lost $2-billion. One area in which African airlines did less badly than the global average was in losses per passenger flown – for African operators these came to $49.63, whereas the global amount was $66.04. 

There was one bright spot for African airlines last year – their air cargo volumes rose by 1%, meaning that they had high cargo revenues. But that was not enough to counter their losses in the passenger business.

“African airlines posted a combined $2-b(illio)n loss in 2020,” highlighted Iata regional VP: Africa and the Middle East Kamil Al Awadhi. “This year we expect only a slight improvement ($1.7-b(illio)n loss) as the struggle with Covid-19 continues. Looking ahead it’s unlikely that traffic will return to (pre) Covid levels until 2023. Financial relief measures are still desperately needed, particularly those which do not increase the industry’s debt burden. … Government relief comes in many forms. Cost reductions in terms of taxes and charges will help. And the release of the $601-million of airline revenues that are currently blocked from repatriation in certain governments would be an immediate boost in some markets.”

Regarding the safe reopening of borders, Iata made three major appeals to African governments. The first of these was to replace quarantine measures with pre-departure testing requirements for international travellers. The second was to adopt the AU-recommended Covid-19 test results validity period of five days, instead of the current, widely required, three days. This was because of the limited availability of Covid-19 test facilities across the continent. The third was that African countries not require a Covid-19 vaccination as mandatory for air travel within Africa, because of the current lack of accessibility to vaccines across the continent.

In addition, African governments had to help their airlines develop operational restart plans. After a year full of lockdowns, flight crews, cabin crews and technical staff would need refresher training while the aircraft would need technical checks. Also, governments would have to put in place digital systems to track the Covid-19 test and vaccination status of passengers, because manual systems would not be able to handle the volume when air traffic resumed. 

“Governments will need a financially viable air transport sector to energise economic recovery from Covid-19,” he affirmed. “Many of Africa’s airlines were weak even before the crisis. Reducing costs and freeing blocked cash has long been a priority for African aviation. If ever there was a time for decisive government action on these issues, it is now.”