Passengers confidence key to salvaging African airlines

IF African airlines are to survive the COVID-19 pandemic onslaught, then the immediate injection of cash is needed to avoid insolvency or bankruptcy of the airlines.

Carriers on the continent are expected to lose US$8,1 billion in revenues this year in the severe and an unprecedented event which is forcing players under the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) to seek more avenues for support to the industry.

The Afreximbank has, however, assured that there are existing opportunities for African airlines under the bank’s Pandemic Trade Impact Mitigation Facility.

The impact of the pandemic is enormous and it could lead to insolvency or bankrupting African airlines in 2020.

AFRAA has proposed setting up an aviation sectorial COVID-19 recovery fund for the support of the airline industry.

The airlines need to continue seeking more avenues for support to the industry from development finance institutions, country development partners and international donors as we navigate through these tough times.

On June 2, AFRAA released an analysis of the impact of the pandemic on the airline industry in Africa which reveals an estimated revenue loss of US$8,103 billion this year.

The analysis is the first in a series of studies that will be published by the association examining the toll of the pandemic on Africa’s air transport sector.

The impact assessment analysis further shows a 90,3% yearon-year passenger traffic reduction for the month of May with recovery expected to start from the 2020 third quarter with domestic operations, followed by regional and intercontinental flights.

On cargo operations, there is currently a shortage of cargo capacity in Africa due to the need for the carriage of medical equipment and essential goods.

In the wake of this lack of capacity and rising prices, AFRAA is assisting its members to adapt in a bid to keep supply chains operational.

From the analysis, the evolution of the number of COVID-19 cases indicates that the most impacted countries in Africa are South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and Ghana, each with a total of more than 5 000 infection cases.

While the rate of infections in other continents is beginning to ease off, in Africa, it is still on the rise. However, the recovery rate in Africa is higher, with an average death rate of 9% compared to the global rate of 19%.