Africa aviation traffic fell 90pc in August on Covid storms

Africa airlines’ traffic sank 90.1 percent in August compared to the same period last year, even as the global forecast for 2020 is projected to be down 66 percent as the aviation sector continues to reel from the effects of the Covid-19, International Air Transport Association (IATA) has said.

The August numbers, however, were a slight improvement compared to a decline of 94.6 percent that was recorded in July.

The Africa carriers’ capacity contracted 78.4 percent with the cabin load factor falling by 41 percentage points to 34.6 percent, which was the lowest among regions.

“IATA now expects full-year 2020 traffic to be down 66 percent compared to 2019. The previous estimate was for a 63 percent decline,” said the aviation body.

The latest estimates reflect a weaker-than-expected recovery, as evidenced by a dismal end to the summer travel season in the Northern Hemisphere.

Globally, August passenger demand was hugely depressed against normal levels, with revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) down 75.3 percent compared to the same period last year.

Domestic markets continued to outperform international markets in terms of recovery, although most remained substantially down compared with a year ago. The capacity for domestic market in the review period was down 63.8 percent compared to a year ago, and load factor plunged 27.2 points to an all-time low for August at 58.5 percent.

Based on flight data, IATA says, the recovery in air passenger services was brought to a halt in mid-August by a return of government restrictions in the face of new Covid-19 outbreaks in a number of key markets.

“Forward bookings for air travel in the fourth quarter show that the recovery since the April low point will continue to falter. Whereas the decline in year-on-year growth of global RPKs was expected to have moderated to 55 percent by December, a much slower improvement is now expected in December forecast at 68 percent on a year ago,” IATA said.

IATA warned last month that the quarantine measures placed by different African countries is are hampering the recovery of the aviation sector.. Quarantines, closed borders and travel restrictions continue to decimate travel demand in Africa and the Middle East. Traffic levels in Africa and the Middle East saw the largest drop of all regions in July compared to 2019 levels.

August international passenger demand plummeted 88.3 percent compared to August 2019, mildly improved over the 91.8 percent decline recorded in July.