The Covid-19 pandemic took a toll on the finances of airlines around the world, and for the African airlines, whose financial situation was already precarious, the impact was even bigger.

A new report released, last week, by the African Airlines Association noted that for the year 2020, the passenger revenue loss is estimated at $10.21 billion.

Like other sectors, the agency said that the pandemic hit the air transport industry hard in the previous year as all regions in the continent experienced a drastic drop in traffic due to travel restrictions and border closures.

The report forecast that from February last year, air traffic recorded a drop of 31 per cent on the Asian market and 3 per cent on the North American market.

In March the traffic was down by 45 per cent and more than 95 per cent in April. Traffic resumed significantly from July to October, "But the recovery was hampered by the second wave of infection during the fourth quarter of the year.”

It added, "Quarter 2 and 3 was the most affected, before a smooth recovery on the fourth.”

Meanwhile the report highlighted that the number of scheduled passengers carried by African Airlines dropped from 95 million in 2019 to 34.7 million (63 per cent).

"The reduction in traffic continued until June, before reversing with the gradual opening of borders.”

In terms of passenger volumes, East Africa was the second to the northern region with a share of 22.2 per cent of the total continental traffic.

On a positive note, the association pointed out that globally, African airlines carried more domestic traffic in 2020, around 43 per cent of the total traffic compared to the rest of the continents.

Connectivity, Visa Openness key to recovery

Despite the amount estimated to reduce by over 22 per cent, the report noted that the financial constraints will still be felt in 2021.

"Overall passenger revenue losses for 2021 is estimated to decrease to $8.35 billion.”

In terms of openness, more and more countries are opening their borders to other African countries.

According to the report, Visa on arrival is adopted by 32 countries across Africa.

"Unfortunately, in 2020, 46 per cent of Africans still need a visa to travel to another African country compared to 50 per cent in 2019, which is a small improvement.”

Rwanda ranks in seventh spot out of 54 countries assessed in the report. Seychelles leads the list and Equatorial Guinea ranks last.

Experts argue that African airlines should take the opportunity to develop their Intra-African Network, especially in this period where the European Union has limited travel to Europe.

Among the 54 countries in the African continent, 13 have direct flights to more than 20 African countries. Ethiopia and Kenya lead with 30 direct flights and more to other countries within Africa. However, the intra-African connectivity remains poor, the report stated.

"In 2020, the regional traffic represented only 19 per cent of African carriers’ operations. Furthermore, the Covid-19 situation depleted the Intra African connectivity that was already low. It is important to facilitate travels within Africa by removing the barriers that prevent travels within the continent.”