The International Air Transport Association Regional Vice President for Africa and the Middle East Muhammad Ali Albakri earlier this week urged the government in Africa and the Middle East(AME) to implement alternatives to quarantine on arrival that would allow economies to re-start while avoiding the importation of COVID-19 cases.
The Vice President added that the region is in a complete lockdown with the travel and tourism sector shuttered as this is detrimental to approximately 8.6 million people who depend on aviation for their livelihood.
Mohammed revealed that the quartine measure has caused the Nigerian airline to lost 2.9 billion in April and June as contained in IATA’s report titled Quartine Measures Threaten Aviation restart in Africa and the Middle East.
According to the report passengers numbers in Nigeria declined in April and June by 4.7 million and 5.32 million each when compared to the corresponding period in 2019. It says 125,400 jobs were at risk in April while 139,500 jobs were estimated to be for June.
The daunting figures show the impact of COVID-19 on the Aviation sector and the worst-hit sector in Africa and the Middle East as it affects the profitability of the travel and tourism sector.
