Faith Nyasuguta
Kenya Airways (KQ) and South African Airways (SAA) will patner to form Pan-African Airline, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced.
The Head of State, while announcing the development, said the move will enable continental reach and global coverage.
“To boost tourism, trade, and social engagement; and to bolster continental integration; our national carrier Kenya Airways will join hands with our partners in South Africa to establish a Pan-African Airline,” he said.
In December, Uhuru toured South Africa and it is suspected that Kenya Airways-South African Airways deal was reached during his two-day tour.
On September 23, 2021, KQ’s would-be partner, South African Airways resumed operations after a one-year hiatus.
Before September 23, the airline had not flown any commercial flights since March 2020, and had halted all cargo and repatriation flights in September 2020.
Over a three year period, starting 2018, South African Airways revealed to its parliament that it had made R16 billion ($1.13 billion) in losses over that period.
This came on the back of revelations that the airline had gotten some R50 billion ($3.55 billion) of state assistance between 2004 and 2020.
Kenya Airways and South African Airways signed a strategic partnership framework in South Africa on November 24, in a move that would see the two carriers eventually form a Pan-African carrier.
The signing happened on the back of an official visit by President Uhuru to South Africa.
The joint airline is set to begin operations in 2023.
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