The African Airlines Association (AFRAA) has disclosed that governments worldwide are holding an estimated $774 million in blocked airline funds as of March 2026, the largest amount held by any region globally.
AFRAA raised the alarm on Wednesday at a hybrid media roundtable at the Sarit Expo Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, themed “Resilient African Aviation: Partnerships, Empowerment, Profitability,” where it called on governments, regional institutions and financing partners to strengthen support for the continent’s airlines.
The association, whose 50 member airlines carry more than 85 per cent of international traffic among African carriers, said the blocked funds were compounding pressure on airlines already operating on the world’s thinnest margins.
According to AFRAA, African carriers are projected to earn a profit margin of just 0.2 per cent in 2026, even as passenger traffic on the continent grows by 21.5 per cent to 137.3 million. It said capacity growth continues to outstrip demand growth, squeezing margins despite rising demand.
The association added that taxes, fees and charges account for 35 to 40 per cent of ticket prices in Africa, against roughly 20 per cent globally, further eroding airlines’ earnings.
AFRAA Secretary General, Mr Berthé, said African airlines were being asked to carry the continent’s growth ambitions while absorbing costs that carriers elsewhere do not face.
“African aviation is ready to deliver on its promise to connect our economies, move our trade, and carry the growth that this continent’s youth and enterprise are already generating. But readiness is not the same as capacity. Our airlines are being asked to carry that promise on some of the thinnest margins in the world, while absorbing costs, blocked funds and shocks that carriers elsewhere simply do not face,” he said.
He called on governments to release the withheld funds, lower the tax burden on air travel, and implement liberalisation commitments already signed, while acknowledging the partnership of Afreximbank, the African Development Bank and the African Union Commission on financing and infrastructure.
AFRAA also cited conflict-driven airspace closures across the Sahel, including a roughly 4,000-kilometre no-fly corridor spanning Niger, Mali, Sudan and Libya, which it said were forcing costly reroutings that add to fuel burn and operating costs.
It further disclosed that Africa receives only 2.0 per cent of global aircraft deliveries, against 35.6 per cent for Asia Pacific and 24.0 per cent for Europe, even though the continent requires an estimated $25 billion to $30 billion in airport and air navigation infrastructure over the next decade.
The association said its six-point response included developing financing solutions for aircraft acquisition with Afreximbank, the African Development Bank and the AU Commission ahead of the July 2027 AU Summit, and advancing the African Airlines Cooperation Framework to close a long-haul capacity gap, with African airlines currently holding just 37.6 per cent of intercontinental capacity.
AFRAA is also urging governments to translate their Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) commitments into on-the-ground market liberalisation, alongside continued investment in safety, airspace efficiency and local maintenance capacity.
On safety, the association said its capacity-building work with the Flight Safety Foundation contributed to a 35 per cent improvement in Africa’s 2025 accident rate, which fell to 7.86 accidents per million flights from 12.13 in 2024.
Its Free Route Airspace programme, which it said has saved an estimated 5,000 tonnes of fuel annually in West and Central Africa, is being extended to Eastern and Southern Africa. The association is also seeking investment to retain more of the $1.8 billion African airlines currently spend on overseas aircraft maintenance within the continent.
AFRAA was founded in Accra, Ghana, in 1968 and is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya.
