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Aviation industry recovers post-COVID: IATA

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The global aviation sector has made a good and steady recovery after being hard hit by COVID-related border closures and national lockdowns. That’s the word from the International Air Transport Association, IATA.

The Association notes that the African aviation market is operating at 93% of where the industry was in 2019, prior to COVID.

Despite the improvement, Airlines operating on the continent face financial challenges, among others.

IATA has launched a partnership initiative, Focus Africa, to aid in strengthening the African aviation sector.

IATA says the African aviation industry has made great strides in its recovery from the impacts of COVID-19.

In the early days of the pandemic, the sector really pushed the carriage of cargo when passenger numbers dwindled.

Fast forward to 2023, the passenger numbers, both domestic and international, are nearly at pre-COVID levels. And the outlook is also positive.

Director General IATA, Willie Walsh says, “The outlook, when we look forward, is again quite positive. We expect passenger traffic in Africa to start really increasing over the next few years. By 2040, it will be more than twice where we are in 2019 and, indeed, by 2035, we’ll be about almost double where we were in 2019. So, again a positive outlook for the market when it looks at the passenger market in Africa.”

Unfortunately, while the sector has picked up in cargo and passenger numbers, this has yet to translate to profitability.

Walsh says, “The picture in Africa, when we look at the financial performance, continues to be negative. Carriers in Africa lost collectively about 3.5 Billion USD in the three years of the pandemic 2020 to 2022 and unfortunately, we continue to forecast negative profitability. In terms of net margins, Africa in the current year, at an industry level in Africa, to be negative.”

But the potential for the aviation sector on the continent is massive. Africa has a population of some 1.4 billion people and a highly youthful population, which is why IATA expects significant growth in aviation numbers in due course.

But much work needs to be to be done to address improving infrastructure, the regulatory environment, cost of flying and ensuring a safe and secure environment, among other factors.

IATA has launched a new programme, Focus Africa, that seeks to address these constraints to bolster the African aviation sector.

IATA Regional VP for Africa & Middle East, Kamil Al Awadhi says, “To help overcome all these challenges for the aviation industry in Africa, IATA’s launching the Focus Africa initiative and it’s a collaborative initiative, pooling together resources from across the aviation value chain to urgently address critical challenges hindering the advancement of aviation across Africa.”

Industry players have welcomed IATA’s intervention, adding that it will help put the Continent in a solid position for growth.

CEO Rwandair, IATA’s Chair Designate, Yvonne Makolo says, “The value of aviation in Africa is clear. By overcoming the challenges, airlines will be able to accelerate their growth. They will fuel intercontinental trade, tourism and socio-economic activities and in doing so, create opportunities to invest in people, starting with education and skills development, but crucially in creating sustainable and meaningful jobs, attracting talent and retaining it.”

The Focus Africa initiative will be formally launched in Addis Ababa in June this year, where all the various partnerships forged to address the continent’s aviation industry will be announced.

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