Deal opens up South Africa routes to KQ

What you need to know:

The agreement is set to increase competition between the national carrier and South African Airways (SAA) in the battle for control of the route.
The deal is the first of its kind in the region between a mainstream carrier, referred to as a legacy airline, and a low-cost one.

Kenya Airways has deepened its operations in South Africa by signing a code sharing agreement with one of the country’s largest low-cost carriers, Kulula.com.

The agreement is set to increase competition between the national carrier and South African Airways (SAA) in the battle for control of the route.

Code sharing will enable KQ passengers to link with major domestic destinations in South Africa including Cape Town, Georgetown, Durban and East London.

“This partnership offers us an opportunity to reach markets in which we are not present,” said KQ’s commercial manager Gerald Clarke.

The move will allow Kulula to grow its footprint in Africa. “We shall leverage the new flows a partnership like this gives us.

It will stimulate additional demand,” said KQ’s area manager for southern Africa Rosemary Adongo.

Kulula.com is the only privately owned South African low-cost carrier.

The agreement is the first of its kind in the region between a mainstream carrier, referred to as a legacy airline, and a low-cost one.

The agreement will give passengers seamless connections from Nairobi into the four South African towns operated by the carrier. KQ operates three daily flights into Johannesburg, driven by business and leisure travellers as well as students.

Passengers will be able to book a one-through ticket to the destinations.

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Increased demand on the route has seen the two main players increase frequencies over the past two years with strategic timings to ease connections for travellers from other parts of the region.

KQ has been leveraging on code shares with worldwide to grow its footprint. In Africa it has an agreement with Air Namibia, Air Burkina, TAAG of Angola, Air Mozambique, Air Mauritius and Precision Air allowing the airline to reach a wider market in Africa beyond the main port.

KQ has been investing to increase its footprint in southern Africa, a key regional market. The lack of strong national carriers in the region has created an opportunity for KQ as well as the continental players including SAA and Ethiopian.

They have been racing for a larger share of the African market as they deepen their growth strategy of connecting more African cities to the Middle East, China and Europe through owns hubs.