According to a BBC report, African Airlines have lost $400m (£312m) since the outbreak of the coronavirus in China in February.
The Coronavirus is not as widespread in Africa as in other continents, but it has led airlines like South African Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Air Tanzania, Air Mauritius, EgyptAir, RwandAir and Kenya Airways to suspend flights to and from China.
The continent’s largest airline, Ethiopian Airlines, is still operating flight to and from five cities in China.
Vice-President of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Raphael Kuuchi, in an interview told the BBC that the losses in the continent’s aviation industry have so far come from suspended and cancelled flights on routes to China.
He said the impact of the virus is bound to get worse for African airlines – which last year posted losses of $100m (£78m).
According to reports, there are a total of 90,936 confirmed cases worldwide – although more than half of those (47,995) have already recovered.
The biggest numbers are still by far in mainland China (80,151), followed by South Korea (4,812), Italy (2,036) and Iran (1,501).
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Japan has 274 confirmed cases, France 191, Germany 165, Spain 120, Singapore 108, US 106, and Hong Kong 100. There are also cases in South America, Africa and Australia.
The total death toll stands at 3,117 with 2,936 of those coming from China. The countries with the next highest numbers are Iran (66), Italy (52) and South Korea (29).
There have also been deaths in Japan, the US, France, Australia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand.
