India and Africa are connected with 99 weekly flights – Firstpost

On May 21, the government came up with an advisory for the ebola virus. This comes amidst the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring this outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) with over
600 suspected cases and 130 deaths.

The advisory states that passengers from countries reporting the disease, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and South Sudan, and experiencing listed symptoms should report to the Airport Health Officer before immigration. The advisory has brought back memories of Covid-19 as it had also begun with limited cases restricted by geography with advisories around symptoms that sounded normal.

Passengers who have symptoms like fever, weakness, headache, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, sore throat, or unexplained bleeding have been advised to report to the Airport Health Officer upon arrival. Passengers who have had direct contact with blood or body fluids or a person suspected or confirmed to have ebola have also been told to do the same.

Additionally, if a passenger develops such symptoms within 21 days of travel, they are expected to self-isolate, seek medical help, and report to authorities.

As airports in India start issuing the advisory, it is imperative to know that India has a direct air connection with Uganda — Uganda Airlines flies direct to Mumbai from Entebbe and Kampala thrice a week. The airline carried over 7,000 passengers to and from India in the first quarter of this calendar year, according to data with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

While Uganda Airlines is the only carrier to operate flights to India from amongst the three countries that are at high risk, as specified by the WHO, India and Africa are now connected by 99 weekly frequencies, according to data shared by Cirium, an aviation analytics company, exclusively for this article.

Ethiopian the largest carrier

Addis Ababa-based Ethiopian Airlines is the largest carrier between Africa and India with 9,071 seats each way across 38 weekly frequencies split across Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai. Kenyan Airways operates 10 flights a week with 1,450 weekly seats each way between Nairobi and Mumbai. Egypt Air operates four flights a week each to Delhi and Mumbai from Cairo, while Air Tanzania operates a daily service from Dar e Salam to Mumbai offering 1,834 seats per week.

IndiGo is the only Indian carrier to offer non-stop services to mainland Africa with a daily flight to Nairobi from Mumbai.

Air India operates a daily service to the island nation of Mauritius while IndiGo operates to Mauritius, Seychelles, and Reunion Islands. Air Mauritius also operates flights to Mumbai, Delhi, and Chennai from Mauritius. So far, there has not been any ebola scare in Mauritius and cases are restricted to countries in mainland Africa.

Uganda is well connected to the world with flights to Dubai, Doha, Jeddah, and Sharjah. All of these are transit hubs connected with India. There is a significant flow of traffic between Uganda and India, thanks to the centuries-old ties between the two nations and Indians who settled there generations ago. On the other hand, the DRC has fewer connections, routed primarily via Addis Ababa and Nairobi while South Sudan has limited connectivity overall.

In terms of trade, India has very limited trade as part of its overall import and export basket with these three nations.

Is India prepared?

India has limited international gateways for air travel and airports have previously been quick to set up tracking and tracing mechanisms as and when needed.

As clarity emerges on the situation, airlines, airports, and government will jointly work to set up a standard operating procedure (SOP) to handle passengers.

Overall, the exposure to Africa is minimal from an Indian standpoint and is less than half a per cent of total international capacity from India. This makes it easier to control the arrivals as they would be far and few and isolated for better and thorough testing.

The ebola outbreak has added to the unending woes for airlines the world over. This has also added to airports’ woes that are already reeling under cutbacks by Indian carriers due to increased oil prices, re-routing, and market dynamics. The tough times that began last April have continued unabated despite hopes of a turnaround.