African airlines’ traffic falls by 65.2% in 2021 – IATA

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) yesterday unveiled full-year global passenger traffic results for 2021 showing that demand (revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) fell by 58.4% compared to the full year of 2019. This represented an improvement compared to 2020 when full-year RPKs were down 65.8% versus 2019. Because comparisons between 2021 and 2020 results […]

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) yesterday unveiled full-year global passenger traffic results for 2021 showing that demand (revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) fell by 58.4% compared to the full year of 2019.

This represented an improvement compared to 2020 when full-year RPKs were down 65.8% versus 2019.

Because comparisons between 2021 and 2020 results are distorted by the extraordinary impact of COVID-19 unless otherwise noted all comparisons are to the respective 2019 period, which followed a normal demand pattern.

International passenger demand in 2021 was 75.5% below 2019 levels. Capacity, (measured in available seat kilometers or ASKs) declined 65.3% and load factor fell 24.0 percentage points to 58.0%.

The report further showed that African airlines’ international traffic fell by 65.2% last year compared to 2019, which was the best performance among regions.

Capacity dropped 56.7%, and load factor sank 14.1 percentage points to 57.3%. Demand for the month of December was 60.5% below the year-ago period, a deterioration from the 56.5% decline in November, owing to the impact of government travel restrictions in response to Omicron.

Domestic demand in 2021 was down 28.2% compared to 2019. Capacity contracted by 19.2% and load factor dropped 9.3 percentage points to 74.3%.

Speaking on the report, IATA Director General, Willie Walsh, said, “Overall travel demand strengthened in 2021. That trend continued into December despite travel restrictions in the face of Omicron. That says a lot about the strength of passenger confidence and the desire to travel.

“The challenge for 2022 is to reinforce that confidence by normalizing travel. While international travel remains far from normal in many parts of the world, there is momentum in the right direction. Last week, France and Switzerland announced significant easing of measures. And yesterday, the UK removed all testing requirements for vaccinated travelers. We hope others will follow their important lead, particularly in Asia where several key markets remain in virtual isolation.”