MONTREAL (Canada), April 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The International Air Transport Association (IATA) projects African airlines to reduce losses to $213 million this year.
According to the association, the continent’s carriers suffered cumulative losses of $3.5 billion between 2020 and 2022.
Full recovery of the continent’s aviation sector after COVID-19 pandemic is still held back by infrastructure constraints, high costs, lack of connectivity, regulatory impediments, slow adoption of global standards and skills shortages which affect the customer experience.
IATA says these factors contribute to African airlines’ viability and sustainability.
This comes as IATA launches “Focus Africa” to strengthen the continent’s aviation contribution to its economic and social development and improve connectivity, safety and reliability for passengers and shippers.
This initiative will align private and public stakeholders to deliver measurable progress in six areas.
“Africa accounts for 18pc of the global population, but just 2.1pc of air transport activities (combined cargo and passenger). Closing that gap, so that Africa can benefit from the connectivity, jobs and growth that aviation enables, is what Focus Africa is all about,” said Willie Walsh, IATA Director General.
Before the pandemic, aviation supported 7.7 million jobs and $63 billion in economic activity in Africa.
IATA projects demand to triple over the next two decades. — NNN-AGENCIES
