- The travel restriction induced by the Pandemic has led to heavy losses in revenue of the aviation industry in Africa.
- For the year 2020, the passenger numbers dropped from 95 million in 2019 to 34.7 million leading to a revenue loss of about $10.21 billion.
- The year-on-year decline was around 63.7 percent.
The travel restriction induced by the Pandemic has led to heavy losses in revenue of the aviation industry in Africa. For the year 2020, the passenger numbers dropped from 95 million in 2019 to 34.7 million leading to a revenue loss of about $10.21 billion. The year-on-year decline was around 63.7 percent. From the end of March to June, most of the carriers were forced to ground their aircraft.
The figures were published by the African Airlines Association in its impact assessment analysis on June 2.The analysis projects the loss to continue in 2021 at a slightly lower figure of$8.35 billion.
Domestic traffic accounted for 43 percent of the total traffic in 2020 led by airlines like Safair, Ethiopian Airlines, Mango Airlines, and Air Algiers. These five airlines carried 4.8 million passengers on domestic routes during the year. International traffic accounted for 57 percent out of which 19 percent was Intra-African and 38 percent of intercontinental passengers. Europe representing 21 percent continued to be the major international destination of African airlines, while Intra African traffic stood at 19 percent. Traffic to the Middle East has shown some growth, while traffic to Asia declined due to Covid-19. Northern Africa accounted for 36.6 percent of the total continental traffic, driven by European tourists. Eastern Africa stood second with a share of 22.2 percent while Southern Africa suffered a 63.6 percent drop in traffic accounting for only 21 percent of the continental traffic. However, its share of the domestic market grew to 77 percent in the last quarter of 2020, from 66 percent before Covid-19. The share of Central and Western African regions stood at19.7 percent of the traffic in Africa. According to the report, the busiest airports as per landings and take-offs were Johannesburg and Cairo. Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi topped in freight traffic handling more than 330,000 tonnes in 2020 followed by Cairo’s 280,000 tonnes.
