The news comes at a time when more African countries are opening up their airspace as they ease restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 in March.
IATA says 35 countries in Africa and Middle East have put in place mandatory quarantine for passengers from other nations, with the numbers having gone up by seven since August, arguing that that the measures are slowing down the recovery of the sector.
International Air Travel Association (IATA) has warned that the quarantine measures put in place by some African countries are hampering the recovery of the aviation sector.
The news comes at a time when more African countries are opening up their airspace as they ease restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 in March.
IATA says 35 countries in Africa and Middle East have put in place mandatory quarantine for passengers from other nations, with the numbers having gone up by seven since August, arguing that that the measures are slowing down the recovery of the sector.
“The impact is that the region effectively remains in lockdown despite borders being open,” IATA said in the latest communication.
IATA wants governments in these regions to implement testing as an alternative to quarantine measures when re-opening their economies.
“Mandatory quarantine measures stop people from travelling. We understand that governments’ priority is on protecting the well–being of their citizens. Quarantine destroys livelihoods. Testing is an alternative method that will also save travel and tourism jobs,” said Muhammad Albakri, IATA’s regional vice president for Africa and the Middle East.
In East Africa, Kenya has imposed a 14-day quarantine for visitors coming in from the countries that have not been listed in the safe list.
Kenya was forced to remove Tanzania from the list of those whose citizens would be required to undergo mandatory quarantine after Dar retaliated by banning Kenyan-based airlines from its space.
Kenya Airways started plying back the Dar route this week Monday after the ban was lifted last week by the Tanzanian authorities.
Rwanda’s Ministry of Infrastructure announced that passengers entering the country will be required to take a second test upon arrival with the results expected within 24 hours. This will be in addition to the test that they would have taken in their home countries in the last 72 hours.
Rwanda requires international passengers to quarantine in selected hotel rooms that cost between Sh2,000 andSh4,000 a day, implying that travellers will have to incur double cost to enter the country.
Budget carrier Jambojet delayed flying to Kigali when international flights resumed in August because of stricter Covid-19 requirements in that country that the airline said would lead to low demand.
According to IATA, travellers are in support of testing. The latest report of passenger attitudes by the agency, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) showed 72 percent of people surveyed agreed that those who test negative for Covid-19 should not have to quarantine, and that 80 percent of people feel that the pandemic is sufficiently under control in the country to open borders.
Quarantines, closed borders and movement 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.
Total passenger traffic in Africa in July 2020 was 93.7 percent, below 2019 levels and in the Middle East 95.5 percent.
Aviation supported more than 6.2 million jobs and $56 billion in GDP in Africa and 2.4 million jobs and $130 billion in GDP in the Middle East pre-Covid-19.
The economic impact of the collapse in air traffic in 2020 due to the pandemic could be 3.5 million lost jobs and $35 billion in GDP in Africa and 1.5 million lost jobs and $85 billion in GDP Middle East.
“Testing provides a safe alternative to quarantine and a solution to stop the economic and social devastation being caused by Covid-19,” said Mr Albakri.
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