Afghanistan Crisis: After Taliban takeover, airline industry sees loss of around $7m

Ever since the Taliban has taken control of Afghanistan, the interim caretaker government has been imposing new rules in the war-ravaged country. In a recent development, it has been reported that due to the suspension of airline flights, the airline industry has been affected in the country, ANI cited a report from Tolo News. Since the fall of the former Afghanistan government, the estimated revenue loss from the closed Afghan airspace is around $7 million. Officials within the Afghanistan airline industry have stated that before the fall of the Ashraf Ghani-led Afghanistan government, at least 11 international and national airlines were in operation.

Afghanistan airline industry suffers loss due to closed airspace

The Afghanistan airline industry has been struggling as international airlines suspended their flights and national airlines have also reduced their activity. The industry analysts have stated that due to the suspension of flights and closing of the Afghan airspace, the airline industry has been struggling and its revenue has dropped. According to news agency ANI, the airline industry has estimated a revenue loss of around $7 million due to air operations being shut in the country. As the airlines have stopped or changed their flight routes, airline officials have revealed that they have lost around $20 million.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Afghanistan has claimed that the war-torn nation was receiving over five billion Afs (Afghanistan currency) in revenue for use of its airspace annually. Economical Analyst Sayed Massoud said, "The lack of national, regional and international flights reflects a collapse of companies and Afghanistan's airspace economy and in fact, inflicts great harm on the trade," according to ANI. Hakim Reshad, a business analyst informed that the problems for the airlines would affect the secondary industry. The airline companies have raised concerns over the closed airspace. Furthermore, they have called for immediately resuming flight operations in the country. Officials at Kabul Airport have assured that all types of flights will resume in the future.

(With Inputs from ANI)

Image: AP