Out of Africa: Expats Scramble to Catch Last Flights to Europe

(Bloomberg) --

With five months left on his contract, 27-year-old Frenchman Olivier wanted to stay in South Africa. But when he realized Air France was about to halt flights to and from the country, he handed his keys to his landlord and rushed to the airport to buy a ticket.

“I’m really upset,” he said, asking that his last name be withheld because he hopes to resume work with the same employer. “The advice was: leave while you still can. I’m going home, but I’m likely to stay unemployed for months and will have to move back in with my parents.”

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster on March 15 and banned all travelers from countries with high coronavirus infections. That prompted the French consulate in Johannesburg to urge its nationals without residency rights to leave the country immediately.

As the consulate was inundated with calls, dozens of panicked expats turned to Facebook, asking about the availability and price of plane tickets, and wondering whether to stay or go.

The South African move mirrors similar border closings in other parts of the world. With well over 100,000 confirmed cases, Europe has become the new epicenter for the pandemic, prompting countries like the U.S. to ban travelers from the region.

South Africa’s move was followed last week by dozens of African countries. Ghana and Senegal banned travelers from the hardest-hit countries, while the Indian Ocean islands of Madagascar and Mauritius shut their international airports.

Even though Africa has reported relatively few coronavirus infections -- less than 1,000 cases on a continent of 1.2 billion people -- governments have acted quickly and decisively to try and prevent the spread of a disease that their health systems aren’t equipped to cope with.

As a result, as of Monday, much of Africa will be effectively cut off from continental Europe and the U.S., with key carriers such as Air France, Egypt Air, AlItalia and Lufthansa grounding planes and suspending all flights. Only a few nations, including Benin and South Sudan, have opted to require travelers to go into self-quarantine upon arrival rather than denying entry.

In Ivory Coast, the announcement by President Alassane Ouattara that the government would bar access to passengers from France, the country’s former colonial ruler, created chaos at the country’s only Air France office.

Security guards pleaded with customers lining up outside to maintain a one-meter distance from each other, all the while splashing their hands with sanitizer before they were allowed to enter one-by-one. Many were told the waiting list was full.

“I reacted quite quickly after the president’s speech, but many flights were already booked or really expensive,” said Leony, a teacher at the French school in the commercial capital, Abidjan. She wasn’t alone: More than 20 of her French colleagues at the school hadn’t managed to get on the last flights, she said.

“I don’t mind waiting here; what’s frustrating is not knowing whether I’m leaving next week or in one month,” she said.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.