The African Airlines Association (Afraa) has estimated that African have lost at least $8.6 billion in revenues in 2021, mainly due to stringent COVID-19 measures. The loss is almost half the revenues the airlines earned in 2019 but is a 15% improvement from the $10.2 billion Africa’s airline industry lost in 2020
“Across Africa, passenger traffic volumes remain depressed due to the unilateral and uncoordinated travel health restrictions imposed by some governments following the outbreak of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
“Airline revenues have remained low with many operators battling with cash-flow issues. Full-year revenue loss for 2021 is estimated at $8.6 billion, equivalent to 49.8 per cent of the 2019 revenues,” Afraa said in a statement.