The airline industry faces its gravest crisis. FILE PHOTO | NMG The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Kenyan air travel industry is slowly unravelling with airlines projecting a steep climb back to normalcy after months of disruption.
The effects have been so dire that the domestic operators now require a financial loan of Sh3 billion to resume operations once the coronavirus containment measures are relaxed, with the industry data projecting that African airlines have so far lost Sh860 billion as at last month.
At the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, the passenger business has been severely hit, losing up to 80 percent of traffic at the facility between March and May.
Data from Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) indicate that the number of passengers plummeted from 550,00 in March to a paltry 14,300 in April after domestic carriers were grounded following restriction in movement in and outside Nairobi.
However, on the other hand, cargo services have not been immensely affected after the government allowed freighters to continue with their operations at the JKIA. Data from KAA indicate that cargo has only been down by 18 percent between March and May.
“Cargo business was not hit much because of the ongoing operations at the airport as the government did not restrict the freighters from operating,” said KAA acting managing director Alex Gitari.
The first casualties of Covid-19 in the aviation sector were the workers, who either had to contend with a salary cut, being sent on unpaid leave or sacked as companies sought to conserve cash in the wake of a pandemic.
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The industry statistics show that on yearly comparison, cargo handled in 2019 was 90,000 tonnes compared with 74,000 tonnes that was evacuated through JKIA between January and May.
The minimal decline in cargo is attributed to an increase in number of freighters to ferry the consignment following high demand for freight services amid low aircraft capacity.
Foreign carriers who had suspended their flights to Nairobi started flying back as European countries eased lock-downs, pushing up demand for fresh produce.The latest entrants were British Airways and Singapore Air which had stopped plying the route following restrictions that had been put in place and low demand for horticultural produce in Europe after many orders were cancelled.The move boosted aircraft movement at JKIA with data from KAA indicating that airplanes at JKIA stood at 65 percent the usual number in three months […]
