Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta announced that Kenya Airways and South African Airways appear on New Year’s Eve to be done a deal and combine operations to form a new carrier, named Pan African Airline. They expected the process would begin in 2023.
Both airlines were looking for ways to increase their global coverage while also reducing the significant losses they had maintained due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to the formation of the alliance.
According to The Standard, Uhuru stated that the alignment will help “enhance tourism, trade, and social participation, as well as strengthen continental integration.”
According to one of the flying industry viewer, a union offer both runners the best chance to stay solvent.
According to John E. DiScala, who was the founder and also editor-in-chief of Johnny Jet, “Both of these airlines are suffering financially before the COVID-19 pandemic, so basically they are at risk, and I believe it’s a great idea to come together and have a business.
What does this mean for the airline’s network partnerships, for example? It is a huge question that has yet to be answered.
Star Alliance, the world’s largest airline alliance, includes South African Airways.
Kenya Airlines is a member of the Sky Team airline alliance. There is no word on which airline network the new carrier will join.
When Pan-African Airline launches, this decision will undoubtedly impact several travellers who want to know if they can redeem Delta or United miles.
“It is not a merger, but a collaboration that attempts to re-organize (sic) KQ and SAA assets into an ecosystem that would make the South African and Kenyan aviation sectors more competitive,” Kenya Airways said in a statement in September, according to Reuters.
The airways of Kenya suffered a lot during the coronavirus Pandemic. According to the reports, in 2020, they bear a loss of more than $333 million, and even they suffered lost more than $100 million in the only six-month period, which ended on June 30, 2021.
South African Airways only recently restarted operations last after halting all the commercial and freight flights until September 2020.
SAA was already losing money before the outbreak. The airline has lost about a billion dollars in losses since 2018. The country’s national carrier needed a cash injection from the government to stay afloat.
During the time of Uhuru’s two-day visit to South Africa last month, it is believed that they finalized the deal of combining operations and from Pan-African Airline.Kenya
