(Series: Part 1. IATA: Alexandre de Juniac on African Aviation Crisis)
IATA’s Director general Alexandre de Juniac provided an online address to the AFRAA 52 annual assembly. His address provides a concise assessment of the challenges facing the African air transport industry – and the way forward. This summary of the key points of his presentation provides a useful marker for the future as to where the industry found itself at the end of 2020.
We are in the middle of the biggest crisis our industry has ever faced. Airline revenues have collapsed. Fleets are grounded. And you are taking extreme actions just to survive.
We all support efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. It is our duty and we will prevail. But policymakers must know that this has come at a great cost to jobs, individual freedoms and entire economies.
Economic Outlook for Africa
For aviation in Africa the numbers are staggering:
• Traffic is down 89%
• Revenue loses are expected to reach $8 billion.
But the impact is much broader. The consequences of the breakdown in connectivity are severe:
• Five million African livelihoods are at risk
• And aviation-supported GDP could fall by as much as $37 billion. That’s a 58% fall.
We have a health crisis and it is evolving into a jobs and economic disaster. Fixing it is beyond the scope of what the industry can do by itself. We need governments to act. And act fast to prevent a calamity.
IATA calls on governments to address two top priorities:
1. The first is unblocking committed financial relief. Airlines will go bust without it. Already four African carriers have ceased operations and two are in administration. Without financial relief, many others will follow. Over US$31 billion in financial support has been pledged by African governments, international finance bodies and other institutions, including the African Development Bank, the African Union and the International Monetary Fund. Unfortunately, pledges do not pay the bills. And little of this funding has materialised. And let me emphasize that, while we are calling for relief for aviation, this is an investment in the future of the continent. It will need financially viable airlines to support the economic recovery from COVID-19.
2. The second priority is to safely re-open borders using testing and without quarantines. People have not lost their desire to travel. Border closures and travel restrictions make it effectively impossible. Forty-four countries in Africa have opened their borders to regional and international air travel. In 20 of these countries, passengers are still subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine. Who would travel under such conditions? Systematic testing before departure provides a safe alternative to quarantine and a solution to stop the economic and social devastation being caused by COVID-19.
Conclusion
Our customers need to do international business that aviation facilitates. And they long to reunite with family and loved ones. Our industry will, no doubt, be changed by this crisis. But flying will return. Airlines will be back in the skies. The resilience of our industry has been proven many times. We will rise again.
We are the business of freedom. For Africa that is the freedom to develop and thrive. And that is not something people on this continent will forget or lose their desire for.
