Aviation industry set to unveil flight path to post-Corona recovery

Aviation industry stakeholders are devising a strategy to help the sector recover from the unprecedented Coronavirus-induced drop in air travel demand, a senior official has disclosed.

The recovery plan expected to be published early next year, sets out not only how the sector will get back on track but also provides a pathway for recovery in both the short and the medium term.

Kenya Association of Airline Pilots General Secretary Murithi Nyagah said the sector needs a strategy to be able to continue operating and grow the business even as the pandemic continues to spread.

The sector, he added, still holds hope that the government would support local airlines and make it competitive for them to compete with other airlines in order to boost the local economy, and find a balance on reciprocity on market share when doing business with international airlines.

Some of the proposals being put forward include proper legislation and policy framework on how to deal with a pandemic as well as restoring passenger confidence to spur the tourism sector among other critical factors.

The government has previously pointed to its creation of a working formula which is expected to guide the aviation industry on issues around recommencing operations and its longer-term growth and recovery, a suggestion sector players have welcomed.

Aviators have also called for the need to have a policy to support the pandemic response.

Last week, saw a high-level stakeholder engagement held ahead of the National Aviation Conference slated for the first quarter of 2021.

Travel agents

The meeting brought together the Senate, Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, and Kenya Airports Authority, Kenya Airways, Kenya Airline Pilots Association, and Kenya Association of Travel Agents.

A proposal on a substantive legislative framework meant to cushion the country during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Senator Sylvia Kasanga who chairs the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on the Covid-19 situation in Kenya is being discussed by the Senate, and referred to the National Assembly where it is still undergoing concurrence.