In airline circles there is consensus that Ethiopian Airlines stands head and shoulders above its peers in the handling of the global crisis in aviation.Speaking during a recent Capa (Centre for Aviation) online seminar, Ethiopian Airlines’ group chief executive, Tewolde GebreMariam, admitted that much of this was due to the strong performance of the airline during the ten years preceding the pandemic.“We have been doing very well in the past decade in terms of profitability, growth, expansion and reinvesting our profits. It has put us in a better position to face the Covid-19 challenge than the rest of our peers,” he said.On air cargo, no other African operator was anywhere near Ethiopian Airlines at the moment in terms of volumes, f light frequencies or reach, said aviation expert Linden Burns.According to GebreMariam, the company’s ability to adapt quickly amidst a crisis allowed for a quicker recovery. One example was the decision to focus more capacity on cargo operations in the early days of the crisis – a move that paid off when the airline temporarily converted 25 passenger aircraft for cargo operations. This helped it to become cash positive. GebreMariam admitted that the airline industry in Africa was under severe pressure, having been harder hit than elsewhere in the world. This was because many African countries had taken “extreme measures in terms of closing borders” for long periods of time resulting in the entire summer peak being lost. Another reason was that few airlines on the continent had found support from their governments in terms of bailout money. Not only did this result in airlines closing, but many had to downsize significantly. “Airlines also had nowhere to borrow money from as there simply was no capital market in Africa,” he said.It was the realisation of the booming air cargo industry that saved the day for the airline. “We made the decision very quickly to build as much capacity as possible in our cargo business. The yields were good. Demand was very high, and we took advantage of the opportunity at the right time.”The airline has continued to capitalise on its cargo business. In February it transported 95 million stems of f lowers (4600 tons) from Nairobi and Addis Ababa in a two-week period to the rest of the world ahead of Valentine’s Day. Markets included Belgium, Cote d’Ivoire, Germany, Italy, UAE, the US, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.According to the International Air Transport Association (Iata), most airlines in Africa saw air cargo load factors elevated last year mostly due to the lack of belly cargo capacity. Industry-wide cargo load factors picked up by 7.7 percentage points compared to 2019. The industry also experienced a robust year-end, with industry-wide cargo tonne-kilometres down by only 0.5% in December compared with December 2019.In South Africa, while several private airlines are up and running, SAA remains grounded, with experts saying it is unlikely that the airline will return to the skies before July this year.We made the decision very quickly to build as much capacity as possible in our cargo business.– Tewolde GebreMariam “
