Airlines Receive Hardest Hit by New Covid -19 Variant

Airlines across the globe will be counting losses with the spread of the new Covid variant Delta since many countries are suspending or canceling their flights as a control measure.

The variant, first discovered in India, is gradually becoming the most dominant version of the Coronavirus globally with the World Health Organization (WHO) confirming its presence in 72 countries.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), slower vaccinations in some regions and difficulties in controlling the variant will greatly reduce the financial performance in 2021.

“Financial performance will be more varied this year.2021 will see a ($47.7billion)Sh 5.1 trillion tax losses from our initial ($38 billion)Sh 4trillion December projection,” IATA noted.

Kenya Airways last week cut its frequencies to Uganda due to the high cases of the new variant leading to the eventual lockdown of the country. Rwanda has also suspended its flights to Entebbe.

Being one of the key routes for Kenya Airways, low demand on the Uganda route will greatly affect the carrier’s earnings.

“We have reduced weekly flights from 12  to 9 because of the low loads as a result of the lockdown as we continue to monitor the situation”.Kenya Airways stated.

The month of June saw  Emirates Airline also suspending flights from Uganda to Dubai indefinitely in response to UAE’s government directive which prohibited Ugandans from traveling to the region.

Passenger flights from the UK to Hong Kong have also been banned to limit the spread of the Delta variant. Other countries that have also restricted their air travel include Portugal, Spain, South Africa, and Germany.

Delta variant will hamper summer bookings which often form the bulk of airlines’ earnings.

IATA has however stated that Cargo remains a solid business for airlines in 2021 owing to the strong economy and restocking.

As a result, driving an increase in the share of World Trade with a 13 percent growth in volumes surpassing the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) forecast of 8 percent.

Philly Opere.