Africa - air traffic in June: freight continues to grow, passenger still down
Prior to the onset of Covid-19, air cargo in Africa was growing steadily. Despite the health crisis, this growth continues month after month. In contrast, the passenger curve has reversed and remains far below the 2019 figures, despite a gradual recovery.
Demand for international cargo from African airlines increased by 33.5% in June 2021, compared to the same month in 2019 (before Covid-19). This is what emerges from the figures published by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Wednesday 28 July. As has been the case for several months, Africa has achieved the strongest performance of any region in the world, but with modest volumes (African carriers carry 2% of world freight). International capacity decreased by 4.9% compared to June 2019. In contrast, international capacity decreased by 4.9% compared to June 2019.
On a global basis, cargo traffic improved by 9.9% compared to June 2019. This brings air cargo growth to 8% in the first half of 2021. This is the strongest first-half performance since 2017 (when the sector posted 10.2% year-on-year growth). In contrast, overall capacity remained constrained at 10.8% compared to June 2019, "due to the ongoing grounding of passenger aircraft".
In terms of passenger transport, demand from African airlines fell by 68.2% in June compared to the same month two years ago. However, this is an improvement on the 71.5% year-on-year decline in May. June capacity contracted by 60.0% compared to June 2019, and load factor fell by 14.5 points to 56.5%.
Globally, passenger traffic fell by 60.1% compared to June 2019. This is a slight improvement on the 62.9% decline in May 2021 compared to May 2019. "Demand remains significantly below pre-Covid-19 levels due to international travel restrictions," IATA justifies.
