The African Airlines Association (AFRAA) > AFRAA
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African airlines’ performance updates by AFRAA – May 2021

Release Date: 07th June 2021

The Covid-19 pandemic continues its devastating effects on the aviation, travel and tourism industry. The number of Covid-19 infection cases globally continues to increase in absolute terms though the rate of infection is on the decline in all world regions in April compared to prior months. The number of infection cases worldwide exceeded 165m as at 20 May 2021. In Africa, the number of infections stood at 4.7m, representing 2.8% of the global total. The countries with the highest infection in Africa are: South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Ethiopia and Egypt. The recovery rate in May is 97.5% and 97.1% for global and Africa respectively.

Traffic recovery for Jan-May was 37% of 2019 level. In May alone, traffic declined by 62.2% compared to same month in 2019. Similarly, capacity declined 53.1% compared to May 2021. Mauritius remains the most impacted hub, with a reduction of 98% of possible connections to/from African airports compared to March 2020. Connectivity at Nairobi JKIA reduced mainly due to schedule adjustments and frequency reduction of national carrier, KQ.

Demand for domestic passenger travel continues to out-perform intra-Africa and intercontinental at 61.5% compared to 23.1% for intra-Africa and 15.1% for intercontinental. In terms of capacity seats offered, domestic, intra-Africa and intercontinental account for 47.7%, 27.2% and 25.1% respectively.

After 3 consecutive months of increase in the number of international routes operated by African airlines (February-April), May saw a dip following border closure announcements by the governments of Algeria and Morocco resulting in airlines in the 2 countries suspending some routes. Ethiopian, RwandAir and SA Airlink however re-opened more routes in May. But the general constrained passenger demand is due to continued increase in Covid-19 cases globally, constantly evolving travel health advisories as well as restrictive access to many tourist sites around the world.

With the low volume of traffic, airlines continue to suffer major losses month after month. In the first quarter of 2021 alone, airlines loss $2.6b and the estimate for Q2 is $2.5b. In 2020, African airlines cumulatively loss $10.21b.

In related Covid-19 developments

  • The government of Tanzania introduced more restrictive Covid-19 travel advisory effective 04 May 2021 to align with similar restrictions in the region.
  • The Nigeria announced it will deny entry to all passengers originating from Brazil, India and Turkey. Airlines that land passengers from any of these countries will be subjected to a fine of not less than $3,500 per passenger.
  • Good news from South Africa is that, the business rescue practitioners filed a notice on 30 April, which ended the rescue and restructuring process of South African Airways, saying the airline was now solvent and liquid.

 

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Press Release – AFRAA releases the 2020 Africa Air transport report

The African Airlines Association (AFRAA) has released the 2020 Africa air transport report. The report gives an in-depth analysis of Africa’s air transport industry performance for 2020 covering: financial performance, passenger and cargo traffic evolution, airport ranking, intra Africa connectivity and openness.

 AFRAA 2020 Africa Air transport report Highlights

 1. Financial performance

2020 was an exceptionally difficult year in history. The travel industry was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The estimated Passenger Revenue loss for Africa airlines in 2020 is US$ 10.21 billion.

 2. Passenger Traffic Evolution

The number of scheduled Passengers carried by African airlines dropped from 95 million in 2019 to 34.7 million in 2020, representing a year-on-year decline of 63.7%. The reduction in traffic continued until June, before reversing with the gradual opening of borders.

Northern Africa was the leading region in terms of passenger volumes, representing 36.6% of the total continental traffic. This was followed by Eastern Africa with a share of 22.2%.

3. Airport Ranking

Johannesburg and Cairo were the busiest airports in Africa in 2020. The only West & Central African airport in the top 10 ranking is Lagos.

In terms of cargo volumes, Nairobi Jomo Kenya airport was top, handling more than 330 thousand tons of freight during the year 2020. Cairo was second with 280 thousand tons.

In terms of airport charges, Lusaka had the highest level of airport charges while Mahe Island had the lowest. Some of the busiest airports in Africa like Johannesburg, Addis, Algiers are among the least expensive. This indicates that lowering the airport charges can have a positive effect on traffic.

4. Intra Africa connectivity and openness

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, intra-African connectivity remains low. African airlines should take the opportunity to develop their Intra-African Network, especially in this period where the EU has limited travels to Europe.

The report can be accessed via the link:  https://afraa.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/AFRAA-AIR-TRANSPORT-REPORT-Q1_-2021.pdf

 

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AFRAA SkyConnect Leadership Dialogue Series with Mrs. Emily Ndoria, Director Trade in Services, African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)

African Airlines Association (AFRAA) is hosting the AFRAA SkyConnect Dialogues – a monthly top executive leadership series on developments within the aviation space in Africa and globally.

The May 2021 edition of the AFRAA Sky-Connect will host Mrs. Emily Mburu – Ndoria, Director Trade in Services for a thought-provoking one-on-one dialogue on matters on the AfCFTA and how it will impact Africa. Expect nothing but out-of-the-box thinking and far reaching recommendations to shape Africa aviation.

Join us for this edition of the Sky-Connect Dialogues to get insights on:
• AfCFTA and how it will impact Africa.
• Status update on AfCFTA since Jan 2021 – progress made, challenges and next steps.
• COVID-19 – a facilitator or stumbling block to AfCFTA progress.
• Regulatory and policy harmonization for trade facilitation.
• Inter-relationship between the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM); the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the Protocol of free movement of people and goods

To register for this series, please do so through this link: bit.ly/3sFZ05k

 

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AFRAA Secretary General Meets the New IATA RVP MEA

AFRAA Secretary General – Mr Abdérahmane Berthé, had a consultative meeting on 08 April 2021 with the newly appointed IATA Regional Vice President for Africa & Middle East, Mr. Kamil H. Al-​Awadhi following his recent assumption of office in March 2021. Accompanied by representatives of their respective teams AFRAA Secretary General and IATA RVP discussed key priorities for both associations’ collaborative support to the African airline industry.

Among the top priorities discussed were building blocks and actions for the restart of the air transport industry. AFRAA and IATA agreed to heighten advocacy for the next steps to release financial support to airlines that are in dire funding to avoid insolvency or bankruptcy in light of the severe impacts of covid-19 pandemic to the travel and tourism industry.

On health and safety protocols, the meeting underscored the “Saving Lives, Economies, and Livelihoods” campaign which calls to Action to African States to work towards harmonizing pre-entry and exit requirements for cross border travel, increase mutual recognition and cross-border information exchange. In particular, two recommendations of the campaign were reiterated:

  1. That States should consider alternative testing protocol for travel that uses the rapid diagnostic antigen test to situations where PCR testing is not readily available or where result turnaround time is long.
  2. That States should not impose COVID-19 vaccination certificates as a mandatory travel entry and exit requirement until there is satisfactory access to vaccines globally, reasonable vaccination coverage is attained, and sufficient evidence and guidance on the use of the vaccine for travel is available based on temporary recommendations of the 6th WHO IHR emergency committee.

Another concern related to the reopening of borders that was discussed was the high PCR test costs in Africa. It was noted that the PCR test cost ranges between US$50-150 across many African States. AFRAA and IATA’s position is for governments to reduce these high costs.

The meeting also reviewed the highlights of AFRAA and IATA annual plan of activities under the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that enhances the collaboration of the two Associations on a number of industry focus areas with the objective of delivering quality service to their mutual members and the industry as a whole in Africa. The main areas of collaboration between AFRAA and IATA include: industry restart actions, safety & security, advocacy, smart regulation, industry costs, environment, implementation of the Single African Air Transport Market, infrastructural development and capacity building.

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AIR DJIBOUTI & COVID-19 VACCINATION CAMPAIGN

Air Djibouti has launched a COVID 19 vaccination for its staffs as well as those working at Djibouti International Airport, who received their first shot.

Vaccinated against covid-19, we protect ourselves, we protect our loved ones and we protect our customers.

For more information about Air Djibouti, please visit www.air-djibouti.com or the facebook
page https://www.facebook.com/airdjibouti1963

About Air Djibouti:
Created in 1963, Air Djibouti is not new in the aviation industry. It has its own success story.
Considered to be one of the regions’ oldest airlines, it used to fly to 3 continents (Africa, Europe
and the Middle-East in Asia).
A revolutionary achievement but a must for the development of the country is the reemergence of Air Djibouti in the sky.
Air Djibouti, also known as Red Sea Airline is here to fly.

Source: Air Djibouti

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RwandAir is the first African airline to begin vaccinating all staff against Covid-19

RwandAir is the first African airline to vaccinate all staff against Covid-19, which will position the carrier as one of the safest on the continent.

The airline began its vaccination rollout programme earlier this month targeting all staff and crew who received their first shot.

Non-airline staff at Kigali International Airport, the airline’s hub, have been vaccinated as well to ensure a safe and secure environment for all passengers.

The drive comes just after RwandAir announced it will be the first carrier in Africa to start trialling the IATA Travel Pass in April 2021 to enable the safe resumption of international travel.

Yvonne Manzi Makolo, CEO of RwandAir, said: “Rwanda’s rapid roll-out of the first consignment of vaccines to arrive in the country prioritized all frontline workers, including RwandAir’s staff and crew. The vaccination programme has been designed to ensure we provide a safe and secure environment for travellers, both in the air and on the ground.”

“We have carefully considered every customer touchpoint at Kigali International Airport and on board our aircraft, as the world resumes travelling in the post-Covid era.”

“We look forward to welcoming our customers back to RwandAir. As an airline, the health and safety of our customers and staff is our number one priority and we have been working hard to restore our customers’ confidence to fly.”

In addition to RwandAir staff and crew, the staff of other airlines operating at the Kigali International Airport also received their Covid-19 vaccinations at the same time.

For more information about RwandAir, please visit www.rwandair.com 

Source: Rwandair

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Press Release: AFRAA and Ethiopian Airlines Strengthen Collaboration and Sign a Memorandum of Understanding

05 March 2021, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: AFRAA’s Secretary General, Mr. Abdérahmane Berthé and Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO, Mr. Tewode Gembremariam, accompanied by their respective leadership teams held a consultative meeting at Ethiopian Airlines headquarters in Addis Ababa.

Leaders at the meeting noted AFRAA’s on-going projects geared towards fostering of collaboration among its members, cost reduction and creation of synergies among African airlines. Various areas of advocacy by AFRAA for the sustainability of African aviation through promotion of intra-Africa travel, reduction of high operating costs and infrastructural development were discussed.

The Secretary General highlighted AFRAA’s initiatives and actions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to support the air transport industry. Key among the workable solutions by the Association for resilience to the industry is AFRAA’s 9-Pillar recovery plan that outlines a framework of various areas of intervention, measures to be taken as part of urgent, immediate, and consistent actions for the survival and rebound of the industry. Other initiatives that have been launched since the on-set of the pandemic include: AFRAA MRO joint venture, AFRAA connectivity index, AFRAA connectivity portal, AFRAA capacity sharing portal: AFRAA project for reduction of air navigation bills. Mr Berthé invited Ethiopian Airlines to take part as a pilot airline for AFRAA’s new projects.

At the occasion of the visit, AFRAA and Ethiopian Airlines signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on training that will facilitate a framework of collaboration between AFRAA and Ethiopian Airlines Aviation Academy to achieve common objectives on training of aviation professionals across the African continent. The collaboration will support the development of sustainable and safe air transport system in Africa and thereby effectively contribute to the continent’s economic development and integration.

According to Mr. Abdérahmane Berthé, “There is a need to develop aviation professionals within Africa and bridge the training gaps in the continent and beyond. Hence, a partnership between AFRAA and airline aviation training centers would be a way forward to overcome the challenges relating to the training of next-generation aviation professionals.”

“AFRAA welcomes cooperation with Ethiopian Airlines on coordination of Ethiopian Airlines Aviation Academy training activities, exchange of programs to attain our common objectives and enhance the effectiveness of the Association in serving the interests of the African aviation sector,” Mr Berthé added.

AFRAA Secretary General commended Ethiopian Airlines for the agility and resilience in navigating the pandemic and reassured Mr. Gebremariam of AFRAA’s continued support to execute the Association’s mandate to ensure the African continent is served adequately with safe, reliable and economical air transport.

 The MoU was signed by Mr Mesay Shiferaw, Managing Director – Ethiopian Aviation academy and Mr. Abdérahmane Berthé, AFRAA Secretary General.

The Full Press Release can be downloaded from this link: https://afraa.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Press-Release-AFRAA-and-Ethiopian-Airlines-Strengthen-Collaboration-and-Sign-MoU.pdf 

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AFRAA Launches the AFRAA SkyConnect Dialogues


Date:10th March,2021
Session Time:14.00h EAT
Registration Link: http://bit.ly/3sOcjkR

AFRAA is launching the Sky-Connect dialogues – a monthly top executive leadership series on developments within the aviation space in Africa and globally. The AFRAA Sky-Connect dialogues will host one top executive for a lively, educative and thought-provoking discussion that will edge out practical, implementable recommendations as well as point to success stories that can be emulated for accelerated results.

Join us for the launch edition of the Sky-Connect dialogues to get insights on:

  • Review of the state of the industry
  • The post COVID19 recovery for African aviation – expectations and timelines to recovery
  • What AFRAA is doing to support aviation development
  • Air transport and the success of the Africa continental free trade area (AfCFTA)
  • Race against time- Airlines/ Airports readiness to deliver COVID19 vaccine across Africa
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RwandAir to be the first African airline to trial IATA Travel Pass

RwandAir will become the first African airline to trial IATA Travel Pass to enable safe and seamless international travel. The airline will begin a three-week trial in April for customers travelling between Kigali and Nairobi in Kenya. IATA Travel Pass is a digital platform to help passengers easily and securely verify that they comply with COVID 19 test or vaccine travel requirements, in turn giving governments the confidence to reopen borders. Developed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the trade association for the world’s airlines, the platform is designed to be incorporated into airlines’ own apps, so travellers by air easily understand what they need before they fly.

Yvonne Manzi Makolo, CEO of RwandAir, said: “RwandAir is proud to be the first African airline to trial IATA Travel Pass, which could reinforce all the health and safety measures and protocols which we have put in place to restore customer confidence to fly once more. We are incredibly proud to be part of IATA’s Industry Advisory Panel, to ensure we guide the technology development in a way that covers the unique requirements of our passenger profile.
“IATA’s innovative solution simplifies and digitally transmits the information required by countries and governments around the world into our airline systems, in a secure and efficient manner.

“Travel Pass will make it easy for our customers to resume flying – and just as easy for RwandAir, and airlines around the world, to accept them.

Alexandre de Juniac, IATA Director General and CEO, said: “RwandAir is showing its industry leadership in Africa by becoming the first airline on the continent to trial IATA Travel Pass. RwandAir has long used IATA products as the most reliable source of information on entry requirements. This trial will build on that history of working in partnership and takes us a step further in the context of COVID-19. IATA Travel Pass will give governments the confidence to re-open their borders knowing that arriving passengers are in full compliance with any testing or vaccination requirements.”

The trial app has a range of features, including a registry of testing centres and labs at the departure and/or arrival location which can conduct COVID-19 tests in accordance with the type of test required for the journey. RwandAir customers participating in the trial will create a ‘digital passport’ which verifies that their pre-travel COVID-19 test or vaccination meets the requirements of the destination they are travelling to. They will also be able to safely and securely share their test and vaccination certificates with participating authorities and airlines around the world to ensure smooth and seamless travel.

For more information about RwandAir, please visit www.rwandair.com 

For further information, please contact: communications@rwandair.com

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Astral Aviation commits to helping UNICEF in its historic mission of transporting COVID-19 vaccines in Africa and The Middle East

Nairobi, 16 February 2021 – Astral Aviation Limited has signed an agreement with UNICEF to support the launch of its Humanitarian Airfreight Initiative for the prioritization of delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, essential medicines, medical devices and other critical supplies to respond to the pandemic.

“Delivery of these life-saving vaccines is a monumental and complex undertaking, considering the sheer volumes that need to be transported, the cold chain requirements, the number of expected deliveries and the diversity of routes” said Etleva Kadilli, Director of UNICEF Supply Division. “We are grateful to these airlines for joining forces with the UNICEF Humanitarian Airfreight Initiative to support the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines.”

“We are truly honored for being selected by UNICEF to participate in the Humanitarian Airfreight Initiative, based on our track-record in performing humanitarian flights within Africa and the Middle East in the past twenty years. We will be placing our entire fleet of B747F, B767F, B727F, DC9F, CRJ-200, Fokker 50 and Fokker 27 on high priority, which is critical to the timely and secure delivery of vaccines and critical supplies, as we consider it our moral-obligation to ensure that no person in Africa is left-behind due to lack of aircraft capacity, re-affirms Astral Aviation’s CEO, Mr Sanjeev Gadhia”

The UNICEF Humanitarian Airfreight Initiative brings together the airlines covering routes to over 100 countries, in support of the COVAX Facility – the global effort aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. Based on the COVAX Facility’s indicative distribution and first round allocation plan, 145 countries will receive doses to immunize around three per cent of their population, on average, starting in the first half of 2021, subject to all requirements being met and final allocation plans.

In addition to prioritizing shipments of these life-saving supplies, Astral Aviation will take measures such as temperature control and security, while also adding freighter capacity to routes where needed.

Safe, timely and efficient transportation of life-saving supplies is critical to supporting access to essential services for children and families. COVAX deliveries and the subsequent vaccination of frontline workers will support health and social care systems to safely resume these critical services.

“Astral’s Pharma Product combined with the expertise of its Pharma team provides a reliable and efficient service for temperature sensitive products across the network, which includes safe re-packing and re-icing service which will enhance the cool-chain value of vaccines for onward distribution within Africa”, according to Michael Mutahi, Chief Operations Officer of Astral Aviation.

***END***

 About Astral Aviation

Astral Aviation is a dedicated all-cargo airline which is based at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya and operates a fleet of 14 cargo aircrafts to over 50 destinations in Africa.

Celebrating its 20th Anniversary in 2020, Astral has lived up to the expectations of its clients by offering a resilient and agile strategy during the pandemic by offering on demand charters for Covid related medical products while maintaining its scheduled network to 15 destinations in Africa.

Astral is the fastest growing airline in Africa with a diversified fleet which ranges from 5 tonnes to 110 tonnes. The latest addition to its fleet is the B767-200F. It will be deployed for vaccine charters to and within Africa.

Source: Astral Aviation

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