Domestic flights continue to drive Africa's air traffic recovery (AFRAA)
As has been the case since January, passenger transport in Africa continues to grow. According to the latest figures released by the Association of African Airlines (AFRAA) on Friday 10 June 2022, this shows that 'domestic markets remain dominant in terms of both capacity and actual passenger numbers carried'.
For the month of May, domestic demand stood at 42.1% of pre-pandemic levels. This was a marked improvement on intra-African and intercontinental demand, which remained low at 30.2% and 27.7% respectively.
AFRAA - which comprises 44 airlines - estimates that the deployed capacity of African airlines has reached 76.6% of the 2019 capacity. The traffic recovery is now at 66.3% of the pre-Covid 2019 level, it says.
However, this upward trend is still affected by load factors which "remain low due to high ticket costs and traveller apathy". This situation significantly affects the revenues of airlines, many of which are struggling with cash flow problems. "The full-year revenue loss for African airlines for 2022 is estimated at $4.1 billion, or 23.4% of 2019 revenues. Last year, the revenue loss was $8.6 billion.
AFRAA now hopes that with the continued easing of lockdown and Covid-19 restrictions in many countries, traffic will increase as the peak summer holiday season approaches. This will help to offset airline operating costs, which will continue to rise as the average global jet fuel price increases.
