The African Airlines Association (Afraa) released a report last week showing that during March, Africa’s airlines had achieved almost 95% of the traffic carried in March 2019.
Intra-Africa travel on African carriers, from eight key airports has returned to 2019 levels, in some cases has exceeding them. Those airports are Johannesburg, Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Lusaka, Cairo, Casablanca, Abidjan and Lomé.
However, while the signs of recovery are appearing in some sectors, there is a growing threat. Blocked airline funds are a stumbling block for recovery and growth in African aviation.
Not only is the growth rate threatened by this, but Iata has already warned that blocked airline funds could lead to interruptions in air services if there is no action and progress in discussions to have the funds unfrozen.
Iata said in a press briefing earlier this month that in Africa, about US$1,6bn (R28,9bn) was currently being withheld from airlines, accounting for 66% of all blocked airline funds, which, together amounted to US$2,4bn (R43,4bn).
According to Iata, Nigeria leads the pack. Yvonne Makolo, incoming Iata chair, and CE of RwandAir, told a recent Iata briefing that Nigeria’s blocked funds accounted for around half of the US$1,6bn African blocked funds. It is second only to Venezuela in blocking airline funds.
Afraa says its survey of members indicated three of its member airlines had approximately US$44,2m (R799,4m) blocked in Nigeria. These member airlines also had a reported total of US$88,9m (R1,6bn) blocked in 12 African countries at the end of 2022.
Other African countries that withhold airline funds included, as of the end of last year, Algeria, Libya, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Burundi, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Emirates has withdrawn from Nigeria due to the fact that it cannot repatriate its revenues. Other carriers will likely follow suit and use their aircraft on routes where they can get their funds out.
"The people who suffer as a result of these blocked funds are consumers in these markets, because you cannot expect airlines to continue to provide services if in effect they're not being paid," Iata Director General Willie Walsh said.
Afraa serves its members by its advocacy in matters of blocked airline funds.
Afraa will hold its 11th Aviation Stakeholders Convention, hosted by Ethiopian Airlines in Addis Ababa in May. The event will welcome over 400 delegates from Africa and worldwide to hold dialogue and exchange knowledge and experiences for the development of Africa’s air transport sector.
US$3,5bn (R63,3bn) was lost in African aviation in the years 2020, 2021 and 2022.
According to Iata, aviation in Africa sees 115 million passengers a year. It supports 7,7 million jobs. It also supports US$63bn (R1 139trn) in GDP on the continent. It is a catalyst for US$44bn (R796bn) in tourism-derived GDP.
