Inspite of challenges, African airline operators are on the road to recovery as they are noticing signs of recovery from the devastating Covid-19 pandemic.
Across Africa as a whole, the commercial aviation sector had largely, but not entirely, recovered from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This sentiment was shared by African Airlines Association secretary-general Abdérahmane Berthe at the recent Airlines Association of Southern Africa Annual General Assembly.
As of September 2022, Berthe reported that African airline traffic had recovered to 82.52% of pre-Covid (2019) levels.
Meanwhile, the continent’s airline capacity has been restored to 82.1% of 2019 levels as the African carriers restarted operations on 99.2% of their 2019 routes.
Indeed, eight African airlines were now operating more international routes than they had before Covid as per Engineering News.
However, African airlines still face challenges such as a steep rise in fuel prices, occasioned by the Russia-Ukraine War.
Just last year, fuel prices averaged around $78/bl and for this year, the forecast average fuel price was $142/bl.
“We call upon African governments to consider aviation as a priority sector and reduce the level of blocked funds,” said Berthe.
“Market access is a critical challenge for African airlines. The Single African Air Transport Market, launched by the African Union Commission, will positively impact air transport in Africa, increasing connectivity and reducing journey times and airfares.”
Even so, African airlines were expected to further reduce their losses this year where in 2021, they had suffered revenue losses of $8.6-billion, equivalent to 49.8% of their 2019 revenues.
“A major concern was the blocking of airline funds by African governments, preventing their repatriation to airlines’ home countries,” reported the website.
“This was the result of the strong dollar and imported commodity price inflation.”
Furthermore, Berthe warned that continental airlines had concerns about the decreasing share of African airlines in total global air traffic.
“In the early 1980s, this had stood at 3.5%, but by 2019 it had fallen to 2.5%. Now, it was about 1.8%. In terms of intercontinental traffic to and from the continent, in the 1990s African carriers had been responsible for 45%,” added the website.
“By 2019 (before the pandemic), this had fallen to just 20%. And half of that proportion had been accounted for by just three African airlines. At the moment, as many as 22% of travellers seeking to fly from one African country to another had to do so through hubs outside the continent, either in Europe or the Middle East.”
Main Image: Emirates Airlines/CGTN
