The African Airlines Association (Afraa) estimates that while African airlines’ deployed capacity reached 76,6% of 2019 capacity during May 2022, the continent’s traffic recovery was only at 66,3% of the 2019 pre-COVID level for that month.
Afraa’s report said that generally across Africa, passenger traffic volumes remained low because of high ticket costs and travel apathy. But the association hopes that with the continued relaxation of lockdown and COVID-19 restrictions in many countries, traffic will increase as the Northern hemisphere summer holiday peak season approaches.
Airline revenues remain low, and many operators are battling with cash-flow issues. Full-year revenue loss for African airlines for 2022 is forecast at US$4,1bn (R65,5bn). This is the equivalent of 23,4% of 2019 revenue.
In 2021, African airlines lost US$8,6bn (R137,5bn) in revenues due to the pandemic, the equivalent of 49,8% of 2019 revenue.
