Browsing: IATA

• IATA says a third of travelers polled say they are traveling more than they did pre-pandemic.
• Looking ahead, 44% say that they will travel more in the next 12 months than in the previous 12 months.
• Reflecting the tight supply and demand conditions, efficiency levels are high with the load factor expected to be 82.6% in 2024.

The profits projected for airlines in 2024 are expected to stabilize, despite net profitability forecasted to be well below the cost of capital, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Industry insiders anticipate that the global aviation sector will generate $25.7 billion (Sh4.06 trillion) in profit in 2024, as international travel finally surpasses pre-pandemic levels.

The trade association for the world’s airlines suggests that the high profit margins will be sustained by approximately 4.7 billion people expected to travel during the year.

“Some 4.7 billion people are expected to travel in 2024, …

• Despite the decrease in cargo demand, African airlines are expanding their capacity in comparison to 2022.
• European carriers and the Middle Eastern carriers experienced year-on-year decreases in cargo volumes in May 2023.
• On a global scale, there has been a decline of 5.2 percent in the demand for air cargo.

Cargo demand for African airlines has experienced a decline of 2.4 percent compared to May of the previous year due to weak demand stemming from rising inflation and the ongoing armed conflict in Sudan.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) report for May 2023 on global air cargo markets indicates that despite the decrease in demand, African airlines have expanded their capacity in comparison to the previous year.

Furthermore, the report draws attention to a significant slowdown in the growth of the Africa to Asia trade route. The growth rate declined from 18.5 percent in April to 11 percent in …

• Middle East carrier Qatar Airways will get 3,000 metric tonnes of neat Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) from oil giant Shell.
• The contract running through 2023-2024, is part of a wider effort initiated by the Oneworld Alliance.
• CEO Al Baker says the airline remains steadfast in its ambitious target of 10 per cent SAF use by 2030.

Middle East carrier Qatar Airways has entered into an agreement to use 5 per cent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in a deal with energy giant Shell signed at Amsterdam.

The contract running through the fiscal year 2023-2024, is part of a wider effort initiated by the Oneworld Alliance. The agreement has a set target of using 10 percent sustainable aviation fuel by 2030.

Qatar becomes the first carrier in the Middle East and Africa to procure huge SAF in Europe beyond government mandates. Sustainable aviation fuel offers significant potential for decarbonisation. This is because …

• Total operating costs during the year under review increased to USD930.1 million (Ksh122.4 billion) from USD585.3 million (Ksh77.02 billion).
• This ate into gains made in revenue as total income grew to USD887.5 million (Ksh116.8 billion), from USD533.4 million (Ksh70.2 billion).
• African carriers are expected to post a loss of USD638 million in 2022, narrowing to a loss of USD213 million in 2023, according to IATA.

Kenya’s flag carrier-Kenya Airways has posted the worst loss ever as high operating costs wiped out gains made in revenues last year, as the aviation industry slowly picked from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The carrier’s has reported a USD290.8 million (Ksh38.26 billion) loss for the year ended December 2022, which is a dip from USD120.6 million (Ksh15.87 billion) posted in a similar period in 2021.

Total operating costs during the year under review increased to USD930.1 million (Ksh122.4 billion) from USD585.3 million (Ksh77.02 …

Airlines are expected to make big losses in 2020 with the challenges being experienced in containing new coronavirus variants and slower vaccination in some African countries according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

According to IATA, airlines are expected to post-tax losses of 47.7 billion in 2021 from the initial projection of $38 billion in December.

“Financial performance will be worse and more varied this year than we expected in our December forecast, because of difficulties in controlling the virus variants and slower vaccination in some regions,” said IATA.

The aviation sector is expecting $81 billion in cash burn despite large airlines having raised enough cash to cover for losses. IATA said that smaller airlines will need support from the government or to raise funds from banks or capital markets which will add to the debt burden and balance sheet leverage problem in the industry.

African airlines in 2020 …

South African Airways (SAA)—one of Africa’s largest carrier has just proposed to the south African government a $ 1.2 billion bailout assist debt settlement and resume flying as the second-largest economy anticipates to reopen the economy.

The fresh plan has received mixed feelings as Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan powerfully disapproved to that plan, and announced his ambitions for the creation of a new airline at the start of the month.

While on Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa restated the government’s purpose to revive SAA, according to information from Bloomberg News.

As the Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde Gebremariam assures the world of a decent return for African planes, “here in Africa we expect to be slightly faster in recovery,” Gebremariam said in an interview with Bloomberg, SAA administrators eye a massive return.

According to information from Bloomberg News, the plan includes about 977 million rands that will go toward repaying South …

The novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has brought the skies down, even the aviation industry is not safe from the virus wrath. In this case, the African aviation industry is vulnerable, as the international body predicted earlier that, the pandemic would hurt the sector hard, as carriers.

According to information from Bloomberg, Africa’s biggest carriers, Ethiopian Airlines, South African Airways and Kenya Airways are among national airlines staring at mounting losses and the destruction of growth plans put in place before the COVID-19 outbreak.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said last week, African carriers may lose $4 billion in 2020 revenue as demand for travel around the continent grinds to a halt.

All three of Africa’s biggest carriers have to find a resolution to ensure amicable solutions reach as carriers “will, in some shape or form, have to enter into conversations with their respective governments about bailouts,” Mike Mabasa, chairman …

The deadly coronavirus (COVID-19) which has now spread over 60, with 93,000 cases and more than 3,000 deaths in China, is projected to hurt the African airline landscape, taking away $40 million in revenue.

At the moment, Africa has witnessed confirmed cases in Senegal, Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

The outbreak has made big-industrial players such as British Airlines, United Airlines, Cathay Pacific to trim their routes to various destination, including northern Italy, South East Asia, to evade further trouble with the virus.

On that line, African airlines have taken their own path to curb the scenario, as Tanzania’s emerging airline halted its scheduled flights to China, Kenya’s court order made Kenya Airways postpone flights to China, and Rwanda did the same.

However, Ethiopia faced criticism for not realizing the flights’ cancellation to China, like its fellow players.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the global aviation …

Ethiopian Airlines is expanding its partnership with CellPoint Digital a leading provider of digital commerce and payment solutions for airlines, to offer more popular payment methods to its passengers with a specific interest to Chinese visitors.

Last year, Ethiopian Airlines adopted CellPoint’s Velocity payment platform to implement a mobile-first payment strategy and create a more seamless customer experience in its mobile app. Ethiopian Airlines initially added Alipay and saw promising growth in bookings through its mobile app in some markets. Ethiopian Airlines is now introducing WeChat Pay and KNET to cater to the international travel market.

China is set to displace the United States as the world’s largest aviation market by the mid-2020s and is a key growth market for Ethiopian Airlines. Millions of Chinese tourists use Alipay and WeChat Pay to make travel purchases, and together these two alternative forms of payment cover more than 90% of the Chinese …