The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has said the continent’s aviation sector is unlikely to recover to pre-Covid-19 levels for another two years.
IATA also said that vaccination should not become a mandatory requirement for air travel, owing to Africa’s slow vaccine rollout.
Speaking during a joint virtual press conference with the World Health Organization, IATA’s vice-president for Africa and Middle East, Kamil Al-Awadhi, said passenger numbers are unlikely to pick up any time soon.
While the aviation industry lost $2bn ($1.4bn) of revenue in 2020, IATA has projected that losses will be smaller this year – though not by much.
IATA is now asking African governments to adopt a single digital platform for verifying coronavirus tests and vaccine certifications, as part of efforts to standardise ways to keep track of the health of passengers.
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