The COVID-19 pandemic brought everyday air traffic to a halt. But African airlines are preparing to take to the skies once more. Many airlines are facing a difficult path ahead to stay competitive. A South African Airways Airbus in the air (picture-alliance/M. Mainka) Many passenger planes remain firmly on the ground around the world because of the coronavirus pandemic. In Africa too, radars picked up very little movement in the sky. But since the beginning of June, air traffic over the continent has increased.
"Most of the airlines in Africa have started operations," South African aviation expert Phuthego Mojapelo told DW. Two of the countries low cost airlines, FlySafair and Mango Airlines have already resumed flights. Both are affiliated with the national airline South African Airways (SAA), which filed for bankruptcy before the outbreak in December 2019.
The South African government decided not to continue funding the airline in April 2020. According to authorities, the state no longer wanted to pump money into the bankrupt airline — it was now needed to fight the coronavirus pandemic instead.
"SAA is developing a plan of starting a new airline, SAA 2.0," explains Mojapelo. "That plan is still before the unions and creditors and they still have to vote on the plan."The failure of SAA leaves a big gap, however — it was one of Africa’s largest airlines, along with Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways. At Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, maintenance work was carried out while travel restrictions were in place High losses for the big three
Kenya Airways has also experienced significant losses and is currently going through the process of being nationalized. The most financially stable of Africa’s big three airlines — Ethiopian Airlines — had already flagged a loss of $550 million (€488 million) in April.
"That would have been our income if we were able to fly at full capacity," Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO, Tewolde GebreMariam, told DW. According to the International Civil Aviation Association (ICAO), African airlines are at risk of losing $6 billion in revenue compared to 2019 and three million jobs.
But now long-haul flights are on the cards again: Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways plan to fly to Paris, Geneva and Brussels again this month — albeit on a reduced schedule.
Read more: Airbus to cut 15,000 jobs due to coronavirus setback
Passengers at low risk of infection
But will this increase in air traffic contribute […]