Stakeholders in the airline industry and leaders at government level attending the 2022 National Aviation Conference hosted by the SA Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) last week, heard that South Africa needs to work to re-establish 86 connections and city pairs that were lost as a result of COVID-19. This would hasten recovery and allow the country to compete for a larger share of international tourism.
The CAA hosted the 2022 National Aviation Conference in Gauteng last week, with the aim of highlighting the industry’s path to recovery and future outlook as well as safety and maintenance issues. The hybrid event was streamed live to audiences around the world.
Several sessions focused on the industry’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic with Iata providing a compelling overview of the cost of COVID-19 and the pace at which Africa and other regions are recovering.
Iata Area Manager: South & East Africa, Alex Stancu, called the recovery of the global airline industry “mild”. He said it was taking place at different speeds in different regions. Africa’s traffic is still about 52% below 2019 levels according to Iata figures. However, the continent is outperforming the Asia region, which has been badly affected by China’s zero-COVID policy and ongoing border closures.
Globally, domestic traffic has recovered faster than international traffic, while cargo has been robust for more than a year, even surpassing pre-2019 levels this year.
Stancu said jet fuel costs (up 85% in 2022 compared with 2021) were a tremendous burden on airlines as well as the industry’s loss of skills and opportunities for employment creation because of the pandemic.
According to Iata figures, the impact of COVID-19 on aviation-related employment and economic activity has been massive. Stancu’s presentation showed:
- US$1,7 trillion (R26,5 trillion) is the value of economic activity normally supported by aviation globally.
- Pre-COVID, aviation supported 7,7m jobs in Africa and 87,7m globally. There are approximately 3,8m aviation jobs remaining in Africa and 43,8m in the world.
- Economic activity supported by aviation in Africa was estimated to be around US$63bn (R980bn) before COVID and around US$27bn (R424,4bn) post-COVID (end 2021).
- There has been a 21% reduction in aviation jobs globally compared with pre-COVID levels.
- 64% of the global fleet was grounded in April 2020.
“We see the significant impact of the pandemic, but also that we are getting back to recovery,” said Stancu.
He added that the ability to recover faster after various “hits”, including omicron, showed that the industry had become far more resilient. There had been a similar trend following Russia’s military action in Ukraine, according to Stancu. He said there had not been a significant impact on bookings.
He was confident that Africa had an opportunity to invite more international travellers who wanted to avoid the troubled parts of Eastern Europe but said it was necessary to ensure more of those 86 air links could be restored.
He acknowledged safety of travellers’ health was also critical, and he called for the removal of pandemic restrictions and for the adoption of harmonised COVID-19 health regulations and requirements worldwide.
According to Stancu, should current trends continue, South Africa’s passenger figures should reach a point of recovery by 2025. “South Africa is looked at as a business and leisure destination and should take full advantage by building vital bridges.”
Meanwhile, the DoT has assured stakeholders it will play its part to support the growth of tourism. DoT Deputy Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga said it was important for the industry to maintain its 0% fatal accident rate in the scheduled airline sector.
Chikunga also urged businesses to do more to support the rapid transformation of the industry, as well as to attract more skilled workers and new talent into its workforce.
