AFRAA
 

Building the resilience of the African Civil Aviation Industry, lessons learned from COVID-19 initiatives

Posted on by African Airlines Association
 

Context and justification

  1. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) wreaked havoc across the aviation ecosystem worldwide. At the peak of the crisis, various institution articulated strategies and plans for the survival, recovery, and sustainability of the industry.  To recall, the African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC) established a high-level task force on “post-COVID-19 recovery strategy for the African civil aviation industry” at the outbreak of the pandemic. The members of the task force included: AUC, AFCAC, ICAO, AFRAA, IATA-Africa, Airports Council International (ACI), Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO-Africa), the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Regional Economic Communities (RECs), and the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). The task force was mandated to ensure that stakeholders avoided duplication of efforts and that post-COVID-19 restart and recovery strategies and all associated action plans were, to the extent possible, harmonized.  It was tasked to develop a comprehensive post-COVID-19 recovery strategy while protecting the interests of various stakeholders and promoting sustainable development of air transport in Africa. It was also tasked to ensure a coordinated allocation of adequate resources, through AUC, to support the recovery plan; harmonized implementation of various COVID-19 recovery initiatives on the continent; and that the civil aviation industry in Africa was on a trajectory to survive and recover during and post COVID-19.
  2. The strategies initiated and policy measures to support the survival of African airlines, included: (i) The AU High-Level Task Force “Post-COVID-19 recovery strategy”; (ii) AUC resource mobilisation to support African aviation industry’s recovery strategy (target US$25 billion); (iii) AFRAA- African airline industry 9-Pillar recovery plan – a framework for “immediate and consistent actions for the survival and rebound of the industry”;(iv) International Air Transport Association (IATA) restart plan for the aviation industry; (v) Strategies elaborated by ICAO under the Council Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART); (vi) ECA dialogue platform with financial institutions to enable access to funds (e.g. virtual dialogue between airlines and Afreximbank organised by ECA); (vii) National COVID-19 response initiatives to support the aviation industry; and (viii) Financial Institutions (e.g. AfDB) COVID-19 response initiatives to the aviation industry.
  3. Several innovative solutions practice also emerged in Africa’s aviation industry during the pandemic, including the: (i) AUC/Africa CDC Trusted Travel platform; (ii) AFRAA/ACC Aviation industry interactive capacity-sharing portal for African airlines; and (iii) Afreximbank, African Center for Disease Control (CDC) and ECA Medical Supplies Platform (online marketplace). To avoid duplication, these strategies and measures had to be integrated across the organisation and between sectors: finance, health, and aviation policy domains. In the case of aviation, and from an intra-sectoral perspective, the policy areas included safety, security, facilitation, fiscal and monetary relief measures (taxes and user charges), statistics, and ensuring air transport liberalisation.
  4. The operators, in particular the individual airlines also implemented internal strategies, e.g. in human resource management, to ensure their survival and sustainability. To improve their cash positions, airlines engaged in strategies to reduce costs and increase cash flow. To reduce costs, airlines grounded aircraft, retired older fleets, lobbied governments for tax relief and labour subsidies, laid off staff, and provided employees with incentives for early retirement. To generate cash, airlines repositioned aircraft from business-oriented routes to leisure routes, cut prices, converted aircraft to cargo operations, offered promotional deals including complementary COVID-19 travel insurance, and lobbied governments for loans, equity investments, and direct aid.
  5. The Fourth Ordinary Session of the Specialised Technical Committee (STC) on Transport, Transcontinental and Interregional Infrastructure and Energy of the African Union, held in Zanzibar, United Republic of Tanzania from 12-15 September 2022, deliberated on the impact of COVID-19 on the aviation industry, and the strategies and policy measures initiated. The Ministerial Session of the STC meeting adopted the Zanzibar Declaration that recommended:

(i) ECA in collaboration with AUC to identify innovative practices and initiatives that emerged in the aviation industry in Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic and propose ways of sustaining such practices including the development of smart airports with digital solutions for improved aviation security facilitation and environmental protection; and

(ii) ECA in collaboration with AUC to establish mechanisms for systematic implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of continental strategies for a sustainable recovery of the aviation industry.

  1. In order to implement the mandate from the Fourth Ordinary Session of the Specialised Technical Committee (STC) on Transport, Transcontinental and Interregional Infrastructure and Energy of the African Union to ECA and AUC, ECA and AUC planned to engage all the key aviation stakeholders in a dialogue. This will help to identify the innovative practices and initiatives that emerged in the aviation industry in Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic and propose ways of sustaining such practices including the development of smart airports with digital solutions for improved aviation security facilitation and environmental protection. The dialogue is also expected to establish mechanisms for systematic implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of continental strategies for a sustainable recovery of the aviation industry.
  2. In this regard, ECA and AUC plan a series of virtual dialogues with (a) the institutions that initiated strategies and policy measures to support the survival of African airlines and ultimately aviation industry; (b) African airlines and (c) African Union member States.

II         Main and Virtual dialogues with the Institutions

  1. On 29 April 2024, the ECA and AUC organised the first virtual dialogue meeting with the institutions that initiated strategies and policy measures to support the survival of African airlines.
  2. Given the dialogue with the institutions, ECA in collaboration with AFRAA and the AUC, plan to organise the second virtual workshop, a virtual dialogue with African airlines.

II         Objectives

  1. The goal of the virtual workshop with the airlines is to implement the recommendations of the Fourth Ordinary Session of the Specialised Technical Committee (STC) on Transport, Transcontinental and Interregional Infrastructure and Energy of the African Union, which required ECA and AUC to undertake a study on building the resilience of the African aviation industry and lessons learned from the COVID-19 initiatives. Specifically, the Minister urged ECA and AUC to determine the effectiveness of the various strategies and policy measures initiated during COVID-19, identify lessons learned and recommend on how to deal with future shocks. The goal of the webinar is to have a dialogue on airline sustainability strategies post-COVID-19 pandemic; identifying the various strategies and policy initiated during and after the crisis as well as lesson learned.
  2. The specific objectives include:

(a) Deliberate on the relevance of measures (initiatives) taken during the COVID-19 crisis. Relevant means the measure (initiative) supported the airline to survive the COVID-19 crisis; and to determine the impact of various measures;

(b) Deliberate on innovative solutions initiated during the crisis and their contribution to survival of airlines;

(c) Deliberate on policy measures initiated by the State of the registry of each airline to assist its airlines survive the COVID-19 crisis. What are the lessons learned;

(d) Deliberate on airlines internal/managerial strategies to ensure their survival, sustainability, and resilience;

(f) Discuss, in case of a similar crisis in the future, which policy measure(s) would the airlines  recommend as the most urgent to be put in place by African Aviation Industry stakeholders; and;

(g) Elaborate a strategy for monitoring and evaluating continental strategies for a sustainable recovery of the aviation industry.

III        Sessions

  1. Moderated by AUC/AFCAC, ECA, and AFRAA, the workshop will be divided into three sessions.

Session 1: Explore the relevance and effectiveness of measures taken by airlines during the pandemic. Based on this assessment, recommendations on handling future shocks will be provided.

Session 2: Deliberate on policy measures initiated by member States to assist their airlines during the COVID-19 crisis as well as the lessons learnt;

Session 3: Deliberate on internal/managerial strategies adopted by the airlines to ensure its survival, sustainability, and resilience. Discuss in case of a similar crisis in the future, which policy measure(s) would the airlines recommend as the most urgent to be put in place by African Aviation Industry stakeholders; and

Lastly Session 4 –Deliberate ways of monitoring and evaluating continental strategies for a sustainable recovery of the aviation industry, with recommendations.

IV        Format and participants

  1. The meeting will consist of (i) presentations by ECA/AFRAA on previous studies related to the airline survival strategy during the crisis, (ii) Guest Speaker- Major African airline from by a Panel discussion of airline initiatives, and (iii) deliberation on recommendations.
  2. Participants: AUC, AFCAC, ICAO, AFRAA, IATA-Africa, AASA (Airlines Association of Sothern Africa), Airports Council International (ACI), the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Regional Economic Communities (RECs), and the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), AfCFTA, African financial institutions (AfDB, Afreximbank), CEO of African Airlines, African Airport operators and State Air Transport Experts;

V         Date and venue of the meeting

The meeting will be held via Zoom, on 23 January 2025, Virtually, from 1 pm to 4 pm, Nairobi time. It will be hosted by ECA, the Secretariat of the Monitoring Body of YD.

Participants are invited to register in advance at:

https://zoom.us/meeting/register/TM01rQNmSnWIt7YATyd1TQ

VI        Expected results

  1. In line with the specific objectives of the workshop, the following are the expected outcomes, captured in a report:
  • Determine the effectiveness of the various strategies and policy measures from the perspective of the airlines;
  • Identify lessons learned and recommendations on how to deal with future shocks; and
  • Strategy on monitoring and evaluating continental strategies and policies

VII      Further information

For further information, please contact: Fetsum Kurabachew kurabachew.uneca@un.org and copy Maureen Kahonge mkahonge@afraa.org and Placide Badji, aconkpanle.badji@un.org

Event Programme

Webinar: 23 January 2025
TIME ACTIVITY  
14H00-14H10 Opening Opening and welcome:

1-      AUC

2-      AFRAA

3-      ECA
14H10-15H00 ·         Presentation by each Airlines (10 minutes each) focusing on the relevance and effectiveness of airlines strategies and policy measures / contribution to the sustainability of the African aviation industry / different initiatives, their relevance, and their impact (10 mn each)

·         Discussion (10 mn)

 

Moderation: AFRAA

 

 1.       Ethiopian

2.       Kenya

3.       Royal Air Maroc

4.       Air Cote d’Ivoire
15H00 -15H50 ·         Presentation by CAAs, focussing on policy measures initiated by the State of the registry to assist its airlines survive the COVID-19 crisis (10 mn each)

·         Discussion (10 mn)

 

Moderation: Angola Airlines

 

 1-      Ethiopia

2-      Togo

3-      Cameroun
15H50- 16H30 ·         Internal/managerial strategies adopted by the airlines company to ensure its survival, sustainability, and resilience. Discuss in case of a similar crisis in the future, which policy measure(s) would the airlines recommend as the most urgent (10 mn each)

 

·         Discussion (10 mn)

 

Moderation: AFCAC

 

 1-      ASKY (Individual view)

2-      Airlines Association of South Africa (Regional view)

3-      IATA (Global view)
16H30- 16H54 ·         Ways of monitoring and evaluating continental strategies for a sustainable recovery of the aviation industry. (8 mn each)

 

·         Discussion (8 mn)

 

Moderation: ECA

 

 ·         AFCAC

·         ECA
 

16H54- 17H00

  

Closure: ECA