Esther Dzviti
Harare – The African Airlines Association (AFRAA) says air passenger traffic was 46.8 percent of figures recorded in the same month in 2019, while capacity was at 54.6 percent.
Domestic markets across Africa recorded a slight reduction in passenger demand though it still outperformed intra-Africa and intercontinental traffic. Domestic traffic for the month under review was 58.9 percent compared to 22.7 percent for intra-Africa and 18.4 percent for intercontinental. On passenger capacity (seats offered), domestic, intra-Africa and intercontinental accounted for 46.5 percent, 26.8 percent and 26.7 percent respectively.
“Globally, the COVID-19 cases continue to rise despite the fact that 24.6 percent of the world’s population has been vaccinated. In Africa, just about 1.85 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated according to data available on the Africa CDC website. The delta variant which is the source of recent infections is not sparing younger people either. The result is an increase in the number of younger people and children infected by the COV2 virus.
“In Africa, the number of deaths continues to rise while vaccination is progressing at a snail pace, thus causing concerns among the travel, tourism and hospitality sectors on recovery. Worldwide, the numbers of infected cases reached 200 million of which seven million are in Africa. The global recovery rate stands at 97.7 percent compared to 97.3 percent in Africa,” said AFRAA in its monthly update.
The organisation continued, “Re-start of operations on intercontinental routes by African airlines reached 77.8 percent in August 2021, though frequency and capacity remained constrained. This represents a month-on-month increase in intercontinental operations of 3.1 percent.
“Airlines which added new intercontinental routes to their operations in August include: Ethiopian Airlines, Royal Air Maroc and Kenya Airways. It is worth noting that, Egypt Air, Ethiopian Airlines, Royal Air Maroc and RwandAir now operate to about 90 percent of their pre-COVID intercontinental destinations.”
Mauritius remains the most impacted intra-Africa air travel destination in spite of the resumption of international flights in July. Abidjan and Dakar airports slightly exceeded their pre-COVID level of flights connectivity with other cities. Passenger arrivals and departures however remain depressed for both airports.
General passenger traffic continues to be low across Africa due to the ravaging impact of COVID-19, inconsistencies in the messaging regarding border closures and failure to align health protocols in some countries and across regions.
“Full year revenue loss for African airlines in 2021 according to AFRAA is forecast at US$8.2 […]
