East African Carrier, Kenya Airway is will commence flying South Africa Airways (SAA), passengers in a move which will see the carrier deepening its strategic alliance with SAA to establish a Pan-African Airline Group.
According to citizen.digital, Kenya Airways terms the codeshare as part of quick wins for the carrier in the strategic partnership with SAA which was signed last year and whose main goal is establishing a formidable continental airline group.
“The ultimate goal of the SAA partnership is co-founding a formidable airline called the Pan-African Airline Group. That is several years down the road,” Mr. Kilavuka added.
Last month, KQ started ferrying cargo on behalf of SAA as it seeks to expand its cargo business.
Besides the SAA codeshare, KQ says it plans to renew its codeshare with KLM-Air France including a joint-venture (JV) partnership on the Amsterdam-Paris route.
The SAA partnership however remains the principal goal for the airline which sees itself flying back to profitability by 2024.
“What we do estimate is that all these partnerships contribute to 20 per cent plus to our revenues. If we do this properly, this could be more,” said CEO Allan Kilavuka.
KQ says the SAA deal gives it room for exponential growth, faster than it could on its own.
Presently, KQ is focusing on rationalizing its fleet ownership costs to match growing revenues with leaner expenses including negotiating new payment terms with its lessors, a process expected to close on July 31.
During the year to December 31, 2021, Kenya Airways cut its net loss to Ksh.15.8 billion from a wider loss of Ksh.36.2 billion in the prior year.
