Is African aviation experiencing a new crisis?

Global travel recovery is well underway and continues to gain momentum, with air travel demand increasing on a month-on-month basis.

An IATA media briefing report published in May 2022 highlighted the progress Africa has made in restoring 99% of domestic air connectivity, when compared to May 2019 levels.

While regional air connectivity across the continent was lagging at 77%, connectivity to neighboring regions had, in some cases, surpassed former 2019 highs, the report noted. Air connectivity to Europe, North America and the Middle East stood at 96%, 102% and 106% respectively.

However, despite the renewed growth of air travel, Africa’s aviation industry has lost some capacity in 2022, as airlines across the continent are grounded over regulatory, financial and operational issues.

AeroTime takes a look at five African airlines grounded this year.

Tchadia Airlines: Chad, North-Central Africa
Tchadia Airlines, the national airline of Chad, is one of the more recent Africa airlines to halt its operations due to financial issues.

The airline was placed into liquidation in August 2022 after three years of successive annual losses in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Its stockholders held a meeting in July 2022 to discuss the airline’s future. However, they found a lack of prospects for the carrier’s financial recovery.

According to the carrier’s stakeholders, the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic proved to be the final blow for the airline. Chad was left without a national carrier as a result.

Based out of N’Djamena International Airport, Tchadia Airlines was the result of a partnership between the Government of Chad (with a 51% stake) and Ethiopian Airlines (with a 49% stake).

The airline launched operations in October 2018, with a fleet of two Bombardier Dash Q400, and operated domestic and regional routes to destinations in Chad, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Nigeria, Niger and Sudan.