According to a recent assessment from an organization of African carriers, African air traffic has made a strong comeback and is almost back to pre-pandemic levels.
The African Airlines Association (AFRAA) said that as additional international flights and tourist destinations reopened, traffic in March increased by 94.8% over 2019 levels.
According to the report, domestic flights made up 37% of March's traffic, followed by intra-African flights (31%), and international flights (32%).
Additionally, data reveals that since October 2022, the overall number of international routes flown by African airlines has approached pre-Covid levels.
The group added that African airlines are on schedule to minimize their revenue gap in 2023.
African airlines saw revenue losses of $3.5 billion in 2022 and $8.6 billion in 2021.
Africa was particularly heavily struck by the Covid-19 outbreak as a result of travel restrictions that grounded airplanes. While some airlines, like Air Namibia and Air Mauritius, entirely went out of business, South African Airways and Kenya's flag carrier, KQ, need significant state bailout funds to continue operating.
To make up for the decline in passenger traffic, several companies, including Ethiopian Airlines, turned their passenger aircraft into freighters.
