THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
Airlines across Africa recorded a five per cent demand increase in 2019, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), has said.
According to IATA, the airlines recorded a capacity increase of 4.5 per cent while load factor went up by 0.3 percentage point to 71.3 per cent.
The association stated in its full-year global passenger traffic results for 2019 that Africa led all regions with the five per cent demand increase, which was, however, down from the 6.3 per cent growth recorded in 2018.
It added that airlines in the region benefitted from a generally supportive economic backdrop in 2019 as well as increases in air transport connectivity.
IATA stated that globally, demand rose by 4.2 per cent compared to the full year of 2018.
The IATA report noted that the 2019 result was a slowdown compared to 2018’s annual growth of 7.3 per cent and marked the first year since the global financial crisis in 2009 with passenger demand below the long-term trend of around 5.5 per cent annual growth.
The IATA’s Director-General and Chief Executive Officer, Alexandre de Juniac, said airlines did well to maintain steady growth in 2019 in the face of a number of challenges.
“A softer economic backdrop, weak global trade activity, and political and geopolitical tensions took their toll on demand,” he said.
According to de Junaic, astute capacity management and the effects of the 737 MAX grounding contributed to another record load factor, helping the industry to manage through weaker demand and improving environmental performance.
Kola Tella
