Developing countries in Africa may be tempted to take more risks on opening travel compared with rich countries to minimise the economic impact of the pandemic, Assaad says. That means the capacity of regional airports needs to be checked as passenger numbers increase. “It’s not happening most of the time.”
The trade association of the world’s airports, Airports Council International, has predicted that in a worst-case scenario, global traffic may take up to two decades to return to pre-Covid-19 levels, and that it is possible that traffic will never fully recover.