The International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Thursday said African nations lost an estimated $7.7 billion in the aviation sector in 2020 as restrictions put in place by governments to curb the spread of Covid-19 resulted in a drastic drop in traffic, reported Africa News.
During a virtual press conference on Covid-19 and civil aviation organized by the World Health Organisation (WHO) regional office for Africa, Kamil Alawadi, IATA’s regional vice president for Africa and the Middle East, said about seven million employees suffered because of the pandemic, while eight airlines have gone bankrupt in Africa.
Alawadi said it would take until 2023 or 2024 for the situation in the aviation sector to improve and return to 2019 levels. He argued that vaccination should not be a precondition for international travel.
“Vaccinated people cannot be left alone to travel. To do otherwise would be to discriminate against people who have not received the Covid-19 vaccine,” the IATA official said.
He added that the situation in the aviation sector can be improved.
Meanwhile, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s regional director for Africa, also stressed that vaccines are only one of the conditions countries use to open borders and increase freedom of movement, noting that many African countries have limited access to vaccines.
Dr. Moeti said the number of infections is on the rise in Africa and the third wave is picking up speed, spreading faster, hitting harder.
According to the data collected by the WHO, just over 1% of the African population has been fully vaccinated so far.
Dr. Moeti added that an additional 700 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine would be needed to fully vaccinate 30% of the African population by the end of the year.
Currently, 16 countries around the world are waiving quarantine for those who have a vaccination certificate.
According to the WHO, a Covid-19 passport system for vaccination, testing and recovery will come into effect in the European Union on 1 July.
