Navigating Beyond COVID-19 : Airline Recovery and Regulatory Reform Opportunities in Southern Africa

This policy paper explores airline restructuring and regulatory reform challenges and opportunities in the Southern African region with particular focus on Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, the air transport sector in the region faced multipronged challenges, including those related to economic regulation, profitability, safety, security, and sustainable financing of critical infrastructure. Much like the rest of Africa, the region is characterized by the dominance of troubled state-owned airlines which have been unable to generate meaningful positive returns for many years due to structural inefficiencies and weak governance. They faced elevated costs and needed several bailouts and turnaround strategies, albeit unsuccessful