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Players in the air transport sector are back to the drawing board seeking solutions even as the industry begins gaining traction post Covid-19.

During a meeting by experts from the transport, trade, and tourism sectors in Nairobi last week, it emerged that Africa’s global air traffic market share declined to 2.5 per cent in 2019 compared to 3.5 per cent in the early 1980s.

This as the contribution to this market plummeted from 45 per cent to 20 per cent in the same period. Blaming the pandemic for aggravating the situation, the African air transport sector warned that traffic marketshare for Africa dropped to less than 2 per cent, calling for urgent spike growth.

KQ general meeting

This fete coincided with Kenya Airways 46th Annual General Meeting (AGM) where the airliner mapped out strategies for resilience to weather the ongoing storm.

The carrier said it is seeing light at the end of the tunnel and declared far-reaching decisions at its AGM as it plans to cut losses so as to be profitable again.

Revenue bumped 32.98 per cent to Sh70.22 billion as alternative sources such as air charter services soared 300 per cent to give boost resources.The airliner cut total operating expenses by Sh2.89 billion reduced lease rentals for aircraft by Sh10 billion.

During the meeting, Michael Joseph was given the nod to remain chairman on the troubled airliner for another three years after being reappointed even as he continues to hold a similar role at Safaricom.

The good news is that the travel industry continues to recover and will gather momentum, experts said. People need to travel. And when governments remove Covid-19 restrictions, they do, said IATA Director General Willie Walsh in a statement.

Walsh said completely removing all Covid-19 restrictions is the way forward, with Australia being the latest to do so this week. The major exception to the optimism of this rebound in travel is China, which saw a dramatic 73.2 per cent fall in domestic travel compared to the previous year.

Expectations for the shape of the near-term recovery have however shifted slightly, reflecting the evolution of government-imposed travel restrictions in some markets.

“People want to travel. And when travel restrictions are lifted, they return to the skies. There is still a long way to go to reach a normal state of affairs, but the forecast for the evolution in passenger numbers gives good reason to be optimistic,” Walsh said.