Post-COVID-19 Aviation Industry Recovery, Resilience, Challenges and Opportunities: A Focus on Western Cape Province, South Africa

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the aviation industry, a critical arm of the tourism industry, was one of the hardest hit. This was mainly due to the closing of borders and the grounding of aircraft. Given the broad spectrum of the aviation industry, its recovery is critical in understanding the recovery process as it mirrors challenges and opportunities within the tourism and aviation sector. This study seeks to track the aviation recovery process from the COVID-19-induced downturn to understand some of the challenges and opportunities emerging from the recovery process. The study utilises archival data from Wesgro and other relevant sources for the 2019–2021 period. The study found that domestic tourist arrivals to Western Cape were higher than international arrivals, with most recovery at the George Airport as opposed to the Cape Town International Airport (CPT), and closing in on the 2019 arrivals. The international arrivals, however, at the Cape Town International Airport remained subdued and well below 20% of 2019 levels. This means that airlines continue with cash burning and thus could render more airlines in the country vulnerable to liquidation. This was evident with the permanent grounding of South Africa’s oldest private airline Comair as the company failed to raise the necessary funds to continue operations. There is a need to cushion aviation players to avoid the continued collapse of airlines who also have to battle record high fuel prices triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war, further worsening their financial challenges when battling COVID-19 recovery.