This archive report was first published on 5 August 2020.
As the world grapples with the Covid-19 pandemic, East Africa is taking a cautious approach to re-opening its airspace. In a recent development, Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania have permitted international flights, while Uganda, South Sudan, and Burundi remain closed, but under increasing pressure to open up.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the region's early shutdowns of international travel slowed down the pandemic's progress, but the trend in East Africa and Africa as a whole should not be surprising. The continent is, on average, four to six weeks behind the rest of the world in terms of Covid-19 cases.
However, as the region re-opens its airspace, it faces a daunting challenge. Without intervention, African airlines are forecast to post $2 billion in losses this year, thanks to disruptions caused by Covid-19 and associated restrictions. IATA warns that without immediate financial interventions, Africa's airline industry faces imminent collapse, putting 3.3 million jobs and $33 billion in GDP at risk.
Fortunately, there is now a lot more information about how Covid-19 spreads, and air travel can be reopened with minimal risk. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has published a set of guidelines to help countries safely re-open air travel, dubbed Take-Off. These guidelines cover biosafety measures such as adequate social distancing, wearing of face masks, deep sanitation and disinfection, health screening, and contact tracing.
While caution is in order, closing the borders forever is not an option in an interconnected world. Applied properly, the ICAO guidelines assure a high degree of safety from infection and serve to return confidence to the travelling public.
