The International Air Transport Association said African airlines posted the strongest international growth compared to other regions in 2020 despite the Covid-19 induced restrictions.
The airline industry trade body said in a report that African airlines saw demand grow by one per cent in 2020 and 1.9 per cent for international operations.
IATA said, “African airlines posted the strongest international growth of all regions in 2020 as well as in December. International demand in the month grew by 6.3 per cent year-on-year.”
But IATA said the airlines fell in capacity by 17.3 per cent, while it fell by 15.8 per cent for international operations.
The report revealed that African airlines as a result of the recorded growth have the same share of the global international cargo market as carriers from Latin America.
Latin America has 2.4 per cent of the global international cargo market.
The association said international capacity of African airlines decreased by 21.6 per cent in December, this is worse than the 18.6 per cent drop in November last year.
The report said African airlines’ traffic plunged 69.8 per cent in 2020 compared to 2019, adding that it was the “best performance among regions.”
Capacity dropped 61.5 per cent and load factor fell to 55.9 per cent, lowest among regions.
In Europe, carriers reported a 16.0 per cent fall in demand last year compared to 2019 and a fall of 16.2 per cent for international operations, while capacity dropped 27.1 per cent for international operations.
For Latin American carriers, demand declined by 21.3 per cent in 2020, while a 20.3 per cent drop was recorded for international operations. Capacity also fell by 35 per cent and 33.6 per cent for international operations.
North American carriers posted a 1.1 per cent increase in demand in 2020 and a decline of 5.2 per cent for international operations.
Asia-Pacific airlines recorded a fall in demand of 15.2 per cent in 2020 compared to 2019 and a 13.2 per cent drop for international operations. Capacity also fell by 26.2 per cent for international operations.
In the Middle East, carriers reported a 9.5 per cent fall in demand, while international operation was 0.5 per cent. Their capacity also fell by 20.6 per cent for international operations.
