African Airlines urged to co-operate in the wake of Coronavirus outbreak

Stakeholders of African Airlines have been urged to work together to help achieve profitability and sustainable operations in these difficult times of the dreaded Coronavirus.

A media session convened by The African Airlines Association (AFRAA) at its headquarters in Nairobi to provide insights into the African aviation industry observed that all was not well, from financial, connectivity and growth positions for the sector.

AFRAA Secretary General Abdérahmane Berthé described Coronavirus as an exasperation on a continent where airlines were making a loss of US$ 1.09 per passenger carried as opposed to profitability of US$6.85 by carriers elsewhere.

He said losses had been registered yearly since 2010. He said stopping flights to certain destinations as many airlines on the continent had done was not a viable solution. He divulged that only Ethiopia had sustained flights from the continent to China.

He blamed the disparity in profitability largely on a higher operation environment in fuel costs that constitute 30 to 40 percent and astronomical taxes. “Add to that the fact that traffic is very thin in Africa where poverty cuts the majority of the population out of air travel,” he said.

Mr Berthe urged African Airlines to take advantage of the lowest fuel prices since 1991 in the wake of the Coronavirus, the only advantage spawned by the epidemic.

“It is a double tragedy in a situation where the market share has been on the decline from 40 per cent in the 1990s to a paltry 20 per cent at the moment, courtesy of increased non-African airline flights out of Africa that today constitute 80 per cent. He said the unfolding scenario was tantamount to marginalisation of the African airlines in the international scene.

Noting that 22 per cent of African air travellers were flying through hubs outside the continent, Mr Berthé called for greater co-operation and coordinated flight schedules among African Airlines.to address the anomaly.

Mr Berthe said trade between African states was less than 16 per cent, a phenomenon not healthy for inter African air connectivity. He said Africa was projected to be one of the fastest-growing markets - accounting for 334 million passengers by 2037.