African airlines urged to adopt safe and risk-based travel approach

NAIROBI, Kenya Jan 13-The African Airlines Association (AFRAA) has called on all African governments and stakeholders to harmonize their health protocols, reconsider the bans and adopt a risk-based approach in line with the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.

The travel ecosystem has been reeling from the adverse impact of the re-introduction of travel restrictions and implementation of blanket travel bans since the onset of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

“2021 marked the dawn of recovery with positive trends in air transport activity being remarked across the globe. As at October 2021, African airlines had reopened 81.3 percent of their international routes that had been closed due to the pandemic. African cargo capacity grew by 33 percent since 2019 and cargo load factors improved by 9% from pre-pandemic levels,” said AFRAA Secretary-General, Abdérahmane Berthé.

Berthé added that the travel restrictions and blanket bans are a huge risk to the gains made in the recovery of the travel ecosystem.

“Furthermore, air transport connectivity and economic sustainability of airlines’ operations will be negatively impacted,” Berthe added.

AFRAA recognizes that a risk-based approach and the safe reopening of borders are critical for the efficient restart of aviation.

“We urge governments to remove border restrictions and open their markets to restart the industry with support from Industry Restart Plan Standards and guidance documentation.

AFRAA has reiterated the Call to Action campaign for Africa against Covid-19 “Saving Lives, Economies, and Livelihoods” by the Africa High-Level Task Force.

In line with the Call to Action campaign, AFRAA has fronted various recommendations to safely re-open all borders such as States should not impose COVID-19 vaccination certificates as a mandatory travel entry and exit requirement until there is satisfactory access to vaccines globally, reasonable vaccination coverage is attained, and sufficient guidance on the use of the vaccine for travel is available based on recommendations of the WHO.

To address the credibility of test/vaccination certificates, AFRAA has recommended governments to adopt digital Covid-19 test/vaccination certificates as verifiable health credentials and as a trusted platform for traveler information.