“Financially, 2020 will go down as the worst year in the history of aviation,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.
The outbreak of the novel coronavirus led to a fall in air travel demand due to the suspension of both international and domestic flights, quarantines, and lockdowns. At the beginning of the outbreak, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has said airlines could suffer a loss of $113 billion.
“It is unclear how the virus will develop, but whether we see the impact contained to a few markets and a $63 billion revenue loss, or a broader impact leading to a $113 billion loss of revenue, this is a crisis,” said Alexandre de Juniac.
The International Air Transport Association also said traffic in Africa fell by 89%. Despite the losses and pressures suffered beneath the weight of the pandemic, African airlines managed to keep their heads above water due to the resolve for survival.
Ethiopian Airlines
Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s leading carrier, managed to close the year with profits of around 2.85 billion euros at the end of June. This is still a shortfall compared to the forecast of over 3 billion euros. Ethiopian airlines faced a heavy toll with more than U$1 billion in lost revenue, but managed to reach that profit level by quickly diversifying to cargo flights.
According to the CEO, Tewolde Gebremariam, the situation could have been worse if it had not swiftly adapted to a 90% drop in international passenger traffic. Due to the resilience and agility of the airline displayed during the pandemic, Airbus, the largest aircraft manufacturer awarded the airline.
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Airbus Vice President Sales Africa and Levant Customer Affairs, Mr. Hadi Akoum said
“This is to express the admiration of Airbus executive management and Airbus whole employees for the unbelievable achievement of Ethiopian Airlines in this unprecedented epidemic. While other airlines were just trying to figure out what to do, Ethiopian Airlines was aggressively pressing ahead finding solution, creating solution converting their passenger aircraft to freighters. Ethiopian Airlines is the first one to do it on Airbus A350 and continue to fly and create even new business. This is something unique all over the world.
Today, Ethiopian Airlines is able to maintain the operation of all fleet where others are at 10 percent of their capability, and many airlines have just simply gone bankrupt and people have lost their jobs. This has been done because of the visionary leadership, Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam. Ethiopian Airlines today is showing the example to the whole world in resilience and visionary thinking of the leadership. Thank you very much, it is a real admiration that we express at Airbus for your leadership and for Ethiopian Airlines Employees.”
Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam who received the award on behalf of the airline said
“We at Ethiopian are immensely delighted that one of the top companies in the world, Airbus, has recognized the efforts of the management and employees of Ethiopian Airlines unique agility and resilience amid the COVID 19 global crisis. We were there when the world needed us most. I would like to express my gratitude to the over 17 Thousand hardworking Ethiopian employees and management team.”
Royal Air Maroc
The Moroccan national carrier, Royal Air Maroc, also developed an innovative way to survive the pandemic. The airline is offering customers free insurance packages with the purchase of a ticket in the event of coronavirus infections contracted during an international trip between December 1, 2020, to May 31, 2021.
National Carriers
In Accra, on Wednesday, October 21, 2020, Ghana signed an MOU with EgyptAir towards the operation of a national carrier. The Aviation Minister, Joseph Kofi Adda said “once the airline is set up, it is expected to play a key role in passenger and cargo transport within the continent and between Africa and other parts of the world”.
Burundi also announced intentions to create a new national carrier in 2021. Johannesburg-based aviation expert, Phuthego Mojapele said
“The aviation industry in Africa has really seen a turbulent time like any other countries or continents around the world. And I think Africa was not spared. But if you look at how we have done things in Africa; in trying to keep our planes in the skies and making sure that we connect Africa that has always been difficult to do. We have managed to do that very well through Ethiopian Airlines that we know very well that they are doing fantastically well”.
