Kamil Alavadi, IATA’s regional vice president for Africa and the Middle East, speaking at the meeting, said the bankruptcy of eight airlines in Africa suffered seven million employees. ”A virtual press conference on Covid-19 and civil aviation, organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa.

We will have to wait until 2023 or 2024 for the aviation sector to improve, and go back to 2019 figures, he said, adding that “vaccination is not a prerequisite for international travel”.

“We cannot allow vaccinated people to travel alone. This would be discrimination against those who have not received the Covid-19 vaccine,” he said.

For his part, WHO’s regional director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, stressed the importance that vaccines are only one of the conditions countries use to open borders and increase freedom of movement, noting that that many African countries have limited access to vaccines.

“Let’s not add insult to injustice. Africans should not face more restrictions because they cannot access vaccines that are only available elsewhere,” she insisted.