Nairobi. African airline operators are going back to the drawing board.

They are mapping sustainability plans including fostering cross-market collaborations to rev up the continent’s intra-African and grow their global air traffic market share.

Africa’s aviation operators and experts have retreated to the drawing board to analyse the continent’s falling global air traffic share as rising passenger demand begins to lift airlines performance closer to pre-pandemic levels.

The establishment of Africa’s first ‘aviation laboratory’ and the start of implementation of a strategic alliance between Kenya’s and South Africa’s national carriers in July are the latest indications of an industry keen on addressing bottlenecks to its growth and expansion, competitiveness and sustainability.

“The overall objective of the laboratory was to address the root cause of challenges facing the air transport industry in Africa and develop relevant solutions to revamp the sector,” said African Airlines Association (AFRAA) secretary general Abdérahmane Berthé.

High operations and maintenance costs, slow implementation of a Single Africa Air transport market and fewer partnerships between airlines, hospitality and tourism bodies have been identified as some of key issues behind the dwindling fortunes of African airlines over the last four decades.

Before the pandemic, Africa’s share of global air traffic had already declined by a percentage point to 2.5 percent compared to 3.5 percent in early 1980s, according to Afraa. Covid-19 further aggravated the continent’s air transport sector pushing its traffic market share below two percent.

“This marginalisation trend is a strong wake-up call to all stakeholders to take necessary actions,” said Berthé.

Afraa, a 44-member airline body accounting for 85 percent of total international traffic carried by continent’s airlines, is now spearheading the continent’s first-ever ‘aviation laboratory,’ tasked with developing roadmaps for the sustainability of the air transport sector in Africa.

Some of the initial commitments already made by key stakeholders include allowing more airlines to fly between two third-party countries to boost intra-African connectivity and developing guidelines and economic regulatory framework for rationalization of taxes, charges, and fees.

The new roadmap is also working on reducing airfares, taxes on fuel and push for abolishment of custom duties on spare parts and aircraft to boost trade and tourism on the continent.

Other key interventions proposed include automation of flight permit acquisition processes across civil aviation authorities and bolstering operation efficiency in African airspace to attain productivity gains for airlines and air navigation service providers.

A multi-sectoral steering committee drawing participants from airports, airlines, tourism boards, civil aviation authorities, continental financiers, AfCFTA Secretariat and independent industry experts will review the roadmap before being tabled for adoption by AU Policy Organs.

While deliberations goes on, a strategic pact between Kenya Airways and South African Airways signed in 2021 has begun showing the impending benefits of close cooperation as demand for air travel rebounds.

Last month the two airlines struck a codeshare agreement- opening up more routes for each operator and offering passengers more options and seamless travel across the continent.

Beyond opening key routes operated by these carriers in Southern and Eastern Africa, the two airlines are evaluating their codeshare partnership to add new destinations within Africa including Tanzania Mainland, Zanzibar, Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Juba in South Sudan, Douala in Cameroon, Lusaka in Zambia, Ghana, and Nigeria.

“The additional destinations we believe will offer better customer journey thanks to the number of frequencies and connections created as well as many opportunities for trade and tourism,” said Kenya Airways chief executive officer Allan Kilavuka.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) data, the demand for air travel surged in June, with airlines based in Africa recording a doubling of international traffic over the year to June, with an increase of 103.6 percent.

“Demand for air travel remains strong. After two years of lockdowns and border restrictions people are taking advantage of the freedom to travel wherever they can,” said IATA’s director general Willie Walsh.

With the continent’s international traffic now around 35 percent below 2019 level, the performance of international traffic between Africa and neighbouring regions is approaching its pre-pandemic levels.

According to IATA, traffic between Africa and Europe is currently 4.6 percent below June 2019 while that of Africa and Middle East is 10.4 percent below 2019 levels.

Source: The Citizen

Kenya Airways will service Nairobi to New York JFK 1x daily next summer, although much could change by then. It comes soon after the SkyTeam airline expanded its codeshare destinations with Delta, although the additions will have relatively little impact on passenger traffic. JFK-Nairobi uses B787-8s and is at the limit of the variant’s real-world range, with what seems to be a payload restriction to the USA.

What’s happening?

According to Kenya Airways’ booking engine, the carrier will grow JFK service to 1x daily from June 19th next year. While the 7,360-mile (11,844km) route currently operates 3x weekly, OAG shows that it was due to be 5x weekly next summer. 1x daily is a significant frequency on the route, although it’ll only be during the summer peak. It is scheduled as follows, with all times local:

• Nairobi to JFK: KQ2, 23:35-07:35+1 (15h block time)
• JFK to Nairobi: KQ3, 13:45-10:30+1 (13h 45m)

The African carrier has one widebody type: the B787-8. It has nine of them, each with 234 seats. They have the same config: 30 fully flat business seats and 204 seats in economy. Just 13% of its seats are premium, not much for the cabin that makes a crucial difference in long-haul route performance.

A prestige route

The very long route to JFK is undoubtedly for prestige reasons, as well as helping to grow Kenya tourism, and is heavily loss-making. Six months after the route began, Kenya Airways’ former CEO, Sebastian Mikos, said that:

“I do not consider it to be a lucrative route. There is nothing lucrative about flying to New York.”

He added that JFK is “necessary but difficult,” mainly for passenger feed reasons and to be ‘seen’ differently. The launch of JFK in October 2018 came amid a cost-cutting and rationalization program in an attempt to stave off bankruptcy, further emphasizing the route’s non-commercial objectives.

Yes, all hub-feeding airlines have loss-making routes in themselves, which wouldn’t, or shouldn’t, be operated if only about that one route, but they make a significant network contribution. Booking data shows that approximately 35% of Kenya Airways’ JFK passengers transited Nairobi in 2019. Does that justify service, especially given the carrier’s perennial on-the-brink-of-bankruptcy position?

A 76.5% seat load factor

According to the US Department of Transportation, Kenya Airways’ JFK service achieved a seat load factor (SLF) of 76.5% in 2019, with 104,544 passengers carried. (Remember, SLF is just one element of performance.) The pandemic meant it fell to 23,240 passengers (65.6%) in 2020 and 31,758 last year (63.4%).

Analyzing booking data shows that approximately 36% of passengers were point-to-point; they only traveled between JFK and Nairobi. A further 35% transited over Nairobi to other destinations, with the top five Kilimanjaro, Lagos (really!), Entebbe, Johannesburg, and Cape Town. Some 19% of passengers connected to partners over JFK, and about 9% ‘bridged’ both JFK and Nairobi. In all, nearly two-thirds of passengers transited.

Source: Simple Flying

Over the years, Nigerian airlines have failed to successfully operate international routes. Many international carriers, who describe the Nigerian routes as very lucrative, deploy many strategies, including visa denial, to short-change Nigerian carriers, but Nigerians are the enablers of this perfidy.

On Monday Nigeria’s major carrier, Air Peace reported that it would suspend its flight service to Johannesburg due to high cost of aviation fuel and the inability of Nigerians to secure visa to South Africa.

The airline explained in a statement that due to the turbulent times the aviation industry was experiencing with Jet A1 fuel increases, scarcity of forex and a delay in visa issuance for South African travel passengers, it had to stop the service.

Over the years Nigeria always have stormy relationship with South Africa in terms of visa. Even when the country’s tourism board spends huge money marketing tourism destinations in Nigeria, Nigerians always face hiccups obtaining visa to that country.

The latest issue concerning visa, THISDAY learnt, has to do with South Africa Airways. The national carrier started operation to Lagos, one of its lucrative international routes, last year and has been operating direct flight between the two countries with Air Peace. Air Peace started flights to Johannesburg in December 2020.

With difficulty in obtaining visa to South Africa, many Nigerians who booked flights with Air Peace would not be able to travel and that is the dilemma they face currently.

THISDAY learnt that Air Peace approached South Africa embassy in Nigeria and pleaded that they should relax their restrictions, but the embassy had not responded. An insider and tourism expert told THISDAY that while South African companies in Nigeria might have risen to 300, most of them monopolies, more Nigerians travel to South Africa because what Nigeria exports are human resources (it is reported that two Nigerian medical doctors leave for the UK everyday). So there are more Nigerians that travel to South Africa than South Africans that travel to Nigeria. Since South Africa Airways started operating to Nigeria, most South Africans travel with the airline and many of them, being top officials of these blue-chip companies in Nigeria travel business class. So even without high load factor at the back of the cabin, the airline earns good revenue from the operations.

But the many Nigerians who travel to South Africa are go-getters who fly largely economy class and with loyalty to their own carrier would like to patronise Air Peace. These are the people that are stopped by visa restrictions.

“They use visa restriction, airport protocol (immigration and flight scheduling) to make you uncompetitive. Now, a lot of people who booked Air Peace flights are moving their passengers to South Africa Airways. Nigeria loses again. Nigeria has no cooperate products to export; just our Dangote and human resources. Any other thing we export they dictate against our own benefit. So what Nigeria should do is to protect her citizens. Like what happened in Namibia. When Namibian authorities beat up Nigerian woman, Nigeria stopped issuing visa to Namibians and that was what killed Air Namibia flight to Nigeria,” the expert said.

Punitive Measures

The expert was also of the view that since what Nigeria largely exports is its human resources; the federal government should take decisive action to protect that “product.”

Recently the Chairman/CEO of Nigerian in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri confirmed in a television interview that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has put restrictions on visa issuance; that any male Nigerian from 30 years or below would find it very difficult to obtain visa because of the illicit activities young Nigerians engaged in the Emirates in the past. She cited the issue of ATM Machine and engagement in cult activities by some Nigerians. This obnoxious act, she noted, damage the image of Nigeria abroad and this makes it difficult for Nigerians to obtain visa, including highly skilled and highly disciplined Nigerians who are the majority that travel abroad to earn a living.

So what Nigeria should do is to punish anyone who damages the image of Nigeria abroad by disciplining the person whenever he returns to Nigeria. This would show that Nigeria as a government does not support the nefarious activities of its citizens.

“We should also check the excesses of Nigerians who travel abroad to damage our image by committing crimes by punishing them even when they are caught, tried and imprisoned over there. We should have it as national policy that when they come back to Nigeria, we throw them back into jail. This way we make them know that we cannot tolerate their criminal activities when they travel abroad and that will also make these countries know we don’t indulge our citizens who break the law outside our country,” the expert told THISDAY.

THISDAY also learnt from an official of Arik Air, which operated to South Africa for years; that one of the key issues South African embassy use to deny Nigerians visa is the compulsory vaccinations against yellow fever (international certificate of vaccination or prophylaxis). The official alleged that Port Health issues expired batch of the vaccination, and this is rejected at the South Africa embassy. Although the embassy would not complain about this but when such issue arises it would deny the applicant visa. A journalist who had had similar experience told THISDAY that his passport was taken from VSF Global (the agency that provides visa service in Nigeria for many countries) and taken to South Africa embassy.

When he got there after his passport had been kept there for two months, he was informed that his vaccination card was not okay; that he had to update the vaccination.

“I just made enquiries and gathered that the batch of vaccination, which Port Health offers may have expired or does not meet the latest requirements, so they always query it at the South Africa embassy. They say even when the batch expires, they still issue it. When we were operating to South Africa, we had to buy new vaccine for the Port Health. We were directed to destroy existing ones and we bought a new batch. Of course, it was believed that it was government that bought is, but we did,” the official said.

However, Port Health had denied that they administer expired vaccine to Nigerians. An official of Port Health in Lagos said that all vaccines meet standard regulations, and none has been compromised in any way.

“Let them not use that as an excuse. They don’t like giving Nigerians visa; yet they like making money from Nigeria,” the official told THISDAY.

Reciprocity

Senior official of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) told THISDAY that the federal government should be notified of the antics of South African embassy because “visa policy is based on reciprocity.”

“It is unfortunate because we even give them visa on arrival here and they don’t give to us. It is very difficult to get South Africa visa. They have not been given us visa for a long time. Like Canada, they can hold back your passport as long as possible without answering you. I learnt that some Nigerians go to Ghana to obtain their visa but they went to Ghana to stop it. So it is the duty of Nigeria to also block them. The unfairness is terrible,” he said.

This could be described as familiar terrain because in 2012 there was diplomatic face-off between the federal government of Nigeria and South Africa following the deportation from South Africa of 125 Nigerians, including a Senator.

Arik Air and South African Airways flights were deported on arrival in Johannesburg, allegedly because they were carrying fake yellow fever vaccine cards. This action, which was described as a “harsh and unfriendly treatment” by most Nigerians, sparked off some retaliatory actions by Nigerian government. In apparent retaliation to the treatment, 28 South Africans who arrived Nigeria the following Monday were deported back to South Africa and the federal government threatened to go tough on South African companies operating in Nigeria.

This was done by the fearless Foreign Affairs Minister, the late Olugbenga Ashiru, who was also the former High Commissioner to South Africa who explained that the South Africans were deported from Lagos because of irregular travel documents, adding that this was only the beginning of retaliatory moves.

Ashiru said then that the federal government would soon sanction South African firms for bringing half-baked graduates to occupy positions that could be occupied by Nigerians. He added that Nigeria had asked the South African government to apologise and pay compensation to the affected travellers and Arik Air.

Also, the then Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, said that none of the deported Nigerians was in possession of fake yellow fever cards as alleged by the South African authorities. He also disclosed that classification by the World Health Organisation indicates that Nigeria was one of the 44 countries with no risk of exposure to the yellow fever virus. However, the Health Minister added that the last confirmed case of yellow fever in Nigeria was in 1995 and that Nigeria was not at risk of a yellow fever outbreak.

According to him, the Port Health Services of the Ministry issued Yellow Fever cards and vaccines at all local and international airports, land borders and seaports in the country.

Insider Jobs

Industry analysts agree that there are always efforts to frustrate Nigerian airlines from operating international routes, but the foreign airlines and their host countries can only share the blame. Nigerian system and its citizens, especially government officials, contribute significantly to the inability of Nigerian carriers to successfully operate international destinations.

THISDAY authoritatively learnt that some foreign carriers pay some top officials in government up to $5 per passenger taken out of Nigeria. Informed industry source told THISDAY that in 2010-12 it used to be $3 per passenger but it has now risen to $5. Besides, some top officials in the Ministry of Aviation are allegedly on the payroll of the airlines.

“So, this is a case of what comes straight to you in form of cash and trying to protect your own airline, which will give you nothing in return. When you retire you are forgotten. The Nigerian system has nothing for you beyond the period you are in power or in authority so you use every opportunity your position offers you to feather your nests,” one industry insider told THISDAY.

Informed source also told THISDAY that UAE authority was aghast when the federal government fought for Air Peace when the Nigerian carrier was denied access to operate to the Emirates. To them, that was unusual because in the past, the Nigerian carrier was left in the lurch.

“I heard that they are waiting for this government to go before the will launch attack on the Nigerian airline. They also said that they know where the fight came from,” a highly placed Nigerian told THISDAY.

In 2013 Arik Air wanted to fly to Brazil and Rio de Janeiro-based Gol (Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A) was to reciprocate the flight in the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) with Nigeria. THISDAY learnt that it didn’t take the reluctant Gol (which was not even enthusiastic about international operations then) time to get all the approvals from Nigeria, while Brazil was extremely reluctant to approve Arik Air flight operations to the South American country.

“It is always easy getting these things from Nigeria because Nigerian officials are guided by what they can get; not how to protect their country. The corruption is enormous. Some of these foreign companies put Nigerians as their directors, so when you invite them for negotiations, they will send their Nigerian representatives and you talk as brothers, you know what I mean,” a source also told THISDAY.

Meanwhile, after the announcement of suspension of Air Peace flight operations to Johannesburg, South Africa Airways has issued a notice that buying its tickets from outside Nigeria must be in dollars. This is to restrict its exposure to the foreign airlines blocked funds in Nigeria and now that it enjoys a monopoly on the route, the new rule must be strictly adhered to.

Source: This Day

Kenya Airways wants South African Airways (SAA) to leave for it some of the routes it operates in Europe and West Africa as the national carrier seeks to expand its reach ahead of the planned formation of a Pan-African airline.

The Kenyan carrier signed a Strategic Partnership Framework with SAA last November, which formed a key milestone towards launching a joint continental airline.

Transport Principal Secretary Joseph Njoroge says London and Abuja are some of the routes that KQ, as the airline is known by its international code, desires to get from the ailing SAA in order to expand its customer base.

The airline wants to use Johannesburg as a stopping point to pick up passengers to London or Abuja.

KQ wants to capitalise on the woes facing the South African carrier to improve its revenue and presence on both the European and West African routes.

“There are routes that KQ desire to take from South African Airways because of their strength on routes and available aircraft, we are still in negotiation on this matter,” said Njoroge.

SAA has been in financial turmoil for a couple of years, which saw the airline halt its activities for nearly a year before resuming service partially in 2020.

The airline has been downsized significantly as a result of bankruptcy and shrunk its workforce by about 80 percent. The carrier is currently flying to nine domestic and international destinations with a fleet of six Airbus SE jets.

The partnership framework followed a Memorandum of Cooperation that the two airlines signed in September 2021 to foster the exchange of knowledge, expertise, innovation, digital technologies, and best practice between the two.

The signing of the Strategic Partnership Framework by the pair will see both carriers work together to increase passenger traffic, cargo opportunities, and general trade by taking advantage of strengths in South Africa, Kenya, and Africa.

The PS said part of the initiative signed by the duo included the training of Kenya Airways pilots in South Africa. “South Africa is ahead of us when it comes to aviation training and we want to leverage on this and use SAA facility as our training hub,” the PS said.

Kenya does not have a simulator for Embraer 190 aircraft and local pilots are trained in either Johannesburg or Amsterdam.

Source: Business Daily

Travelers in the U.S. have shockingly few rights when flights get delayed or canceled. There’s only one ironclad rule, really: If an airline cancels or significantly delays a flight, passengers can cancel their trip and get a full refund – not just a voucher or travel credit.

Two years after an avalanche of complaints from flyers fighting for those refunds as the pandemic first upended travel, federal regulators are finally pushing to tighten those rules – and clear up exactly when travelers are entitled to get their money back.

The U.S. Department of Transportation on Wednesday proposed a new rule that would set even more refund laws in stone. It would require airlines to inform passengers when a refund is available. And it would force airlines who rake in federal subsidies during a future public health emergency, like the $50 billion-plus U.S. airlines collected during the COVID-19 pandemic, to issue refunds for travelers who cancel flights – not just a voucher.

“When Americans buy an airline ticket, they should get to their destination safely, reliably, and affordably,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “This new proposed rule would protect the rights of travelers and help ensure they get the timely refunds they deserve from the airlines.”

What Would Change with Airline Refund Laws?

These new rules have little to do with the recent spate of delays and cancellations that have frustrated millions of Americans returning to the skies this summer. It wouldn’t force airlines to dole out compensation for those disruptions, as we and several members of Congress have called for.

Instead, it’s geared more toward responding to 2020, when airlines pulled hundreds of planes out of the sky as travel collapsed, canceling flights and leaving passengers to fight to get their money back. And they did fight: Consumer complaints to the department regarding airline refunds jumped from under 1,600 in 2019 to almost 90,000, according to Air Travel Consumer Reports – a mammoth increase of 5,587%.

These new proposed rules would set even more down in stone for when travelers are entitled to get a refund.

Chiefly, they clarify exactly how long of a delay or schedule change triggers a refund. Currently, federal rules leave it up to airlines what constitutes a “significant delay.” Most major airlines set that threshold at two hours while some budget carriers consider it a whole calendar day change.

The new rules would set one clear standard, among others, including:

• The proposed rules would require a refund if an airline changes your flight by three hours or more
• For international flights, schedule changes of more than six hours would trigger a mandatory refund
• Adding a connection to a nonstop flight (or additional connections) would be considered a significant delay – another aspect that’s not currently clear in federal regulations
• Shifting your flight to arrive in or depart from a different airport would trigger a refund
• Downgrading cabins or class of service would trigger the option of a refund too
• A plane swap that results in “a significant downgrade of the available amenities and travel experiences”

Giving airlines a three-hour window to change schedules without triggering refunds – and a whopping six-hour threshold for international flights – seems far too generous, especially when many airlines have for years doled out refunds after two-hour schedule changes or delays. But here’s the most important part: These changes would also require airlines to explicitly inform passengers that a refund is available … before offering travel credits or a voucher.

That’s been airlines’ go-to move for the last two-plus years. They’ve sold tickets, canceled flights, and offered vouchers, hoping that passengers don’t know they could get their money back instead.

Without that required disclosure, these new rules are pointless. Airlines could keep doing what they’ve done all along: Stick travelers with a voucher that might expire in a year or less.

Airlines have repeatedly pointed to the fact that they’ve done away with change fees, giving flyers more flexibility to cancel an upcoming flight and pocket a voucher for the value of their ticket. That’s true, but these new proposed rules would also force airlines to be even more generous with doling out credits if anything like another COVID-19 pandemic strikes.

Namely, it would require airlines to issue travel credits or vouchers that never expire if a passenger cancels due to travel bans or restrictions, during a future public health emergency, or simply due to health advice from a medical professional.

Most airlines’ travel credits expire just one year from the date of purchase of the original ticket. After a change just last week, only Southwest – long the leader when it comes to changes fees and flexibility – offers travel credits without expiration dates. Delta has publicly considered doing the same.

Will it Actually Happen?

That’s anyone’s guess.

This is all part of the federal rulemaking process, which is a marathon – not a sprint. There’s no guarantee these changes will become law anytime soon, if ever.

For instance, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection has been pushing to raise the price of Global Entry through the federal rulemaking process since January 2021. Nineteen months laters, there’s still no sign of when that price increase may take effect.

With these proposed rules now put on paper, it begins a 90-day public comment period on the changes. The Department is also hosting a public meeting to discuss the proposed changes on Aug. 22.

Source: Thrifty Traveler

Ethiopian Airlines has become Africa’s first airline customer of Airbus’ flagship A350-1000 aircraft. The carrier confirmed on Thursday that it has upsized four of its existing Airbus A350-900s on order to the larger -1000 variant.

This is not the first time that Ethiopian Airlines has debuted an aircraft in Africa – it was also the first African airline to operate the A350-900 when it took delivery of the type in June 2016.

Today, the Star Alliance member boasts 18 A350-900s in its fleet of 121 passenger aircraft, and it will take delivery of two more A350-900s, in addition to the four A350-1000s. This makes Ethiopian Airlines the joint six-largest operator of the A350-900, together with Air China and Air France. The list is topped by Singapore Airlines, with 53 A350-900s and 7 A350-900ULRs in its fleet.

While the aircraft manufacturer did not provide a timeframe for the deliveries, Airbus celebrated the agreement with Ethiopian Airlines, with its President – Africa and Middle East, Mikail Houari, stating,

“We are proud of our strong partnership with Ethiopian Airlines – the first airline in Africa to order and operate the A350-900. In another first, Ethiopian Airlines is once again leading the way in Africa’s aviation sector by introducing the A350-1000, the largest version of the world’s most efficient and technologically advanced passenger aircraft.”

Ethiopian Airlines and the A350-1000

Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO, Mesfin Tasew, marked the deal, saying,

“We are delighted over the upsizing of the A350-900 on order to the largest variant, A350-1000, that helps us stay ahead of the curve in technology. We are the technology leaders in the continent introducing the latest technology and fuel-efficient fleet into Africa. The A350-1000 is the best fit for our dense routes, and we believe that the upsizing will be instrumental in satisfying the increasing demand of customers in our vast global network across five continents.”

Designed to compete with Boeing’s 777-300ER and 777-9, the A350-1000 is the largest variant of the A350 family, measuring 74 meters in length. Qatar Airways was the type’s launch customer, operating the first commercial flight in February 2018.

Africa’s largest airline

For several years prior to the pandemic, Ethiopian Airlines was on an impressive growth trajectory, which saw it become the largest airline in Africa by both passengers carried and by destinations served, ahead of Egyptair and Royal Air Maroc.

The airline’s recovery from the pandemic has been strong, and it once again operates an extensive route network of over 130 destinations across five continents. Ethiopian Airlines recently announced its 16th European destination, with fifth-freedom flights to Zurich being tagged onto its Milan-Malpensa services from October 31st. The carrier will also commence flights to Amman on September 19th.

The Airbus A350 is the ideal choice to drive this recovery – with its carbon-fiber fuselage and wings, and fuel-efficient Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines, the aircraft offers a 25% reduction in fuel-burn and CO2 emissions compared to previous twin-aisle aircraft.

Source: Simple Flying

Kenya Airways and Virgin Atlantic seal Interline Agreement

Kenya Airways has continued its strategic move towards enhancing its network through partnerships with airlines across the world. The national carrier has added Virgin Atlantic as its latest interline partner, providing convenience to its customers through seamless connectivity.

This year alone, Kenya Airways has expanded its codeshare with SAA and Delta Airlines, sealed interlined agreements with Jetblue and Africa World Airlines as the theme of partnership for growth reverberates across a post-pandemic African aviation industry.

Under the agreement with Virgin Atlantic, Kenya Airways will extend its reach in the US, the Caribbean, and Israel via London.

What does this mean for passengers?

Passengers flying to London will be able to connect with Virgin Atlantic-operated flights to Boston, Washington, Atlanta, Austin, Miami, Orlando, Las Vegas, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Antigua, Barbados, The Bahamas, Jamaica, Grenada, and Tel Aviv among others.

The agreement further enables Virgin Atlantic passengers to book a through ticket to Nairobi and enjoy seamless connections to Kenya Airways destinations across Africa including Tanzania, Uganda, Seychelles, Mauritius, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Madagascar among others.

KQ Network and Fleet

A proud member of the Sky Team alliance, Kenya Airways serves 3 domestic destinations and 42 international destinations in 36 countries with a fleet of 36 aircraft, however the carrier is implementing a turn-around plan that could see the fleet shrink to 27 aircraft.

The airline’s financial woes include a record loss for Kenya’s corporate history during the covid pandemic but only proving to be the continuation of a downward trend of loss-making spanning close to 10 years.

Turn-around plans

The airline is intent on halting its poor financial performance with plans to nationalize now dead in the water, its only hope is in executing a turn-around strategy.

CEO Alan Kilavuka remarked last year: “Kenya Airways has come up with short, medium, and long-term strategies to help in realizing two main objectives. The first is to survive the current depressed market, and the second is to implement strategies that will make the business more sustainable in the long term,”

Source: Airspace Africa

The leaders of the country’s biggest airlines learned a hard lesson this summer: it’s easier to make plans than to keep them.

The three biggest U.S. carriers — Delta, United and American — are dialing back their flight growth ambitions, an effort to fly more reliably after biting off more than they could chew this year as they chased an unprecedented rebound in travel, despite a host of logistical and supply chain constraints as well as staffing shortages.

The cuts come as airlines face elevated costs that they don’t see easing significantly just yet, along with the possibility of an economic slowdown and questions over spending by some of the country’s biggest corporate travelers.

Building buffers

United Airlines estimated it would restore 89% of 2019 capacity levels in the third quarter, and about 90% in the fourth. In 2023, it will grow its schedule to no more than 8% above 2019′s, down from an earlier forecast that it would fly 20% more than it did in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic hamstrung travel.

“We’re essentially going to keep flying the same amount that we are today, which is less than we intended to, but not grow the airline until we can see evidence the whole system can support it,” United CEO Scott Kirby said in an interview with CNBC’s “Fast Money” after reporting results Wednesday. “We’re just building more buffer into the system so that we have more opportunity to accommodate those customers.”

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom also spoke of a “buffer” after reporting record revenue on Thursday. That carrier has been more aggressive than Delta and United in restoring capacity but said it would fly 90%-92% of its 2019 capacity in the third quarter.

“We continue to invest in our operation to ensure we meet our reliability goals and deliver for our customers,” Isom wrote in a staff note, discussing the airline’s performance. “As we look to the rest of the year, we have taken proactive steps to build additional buffer into our schedule and will continue to limit capacity to the resources we have and the operating conditions we face.”

Delta, for its part, apologized to customers for a spate of flight cancellations and disruptions and said last week said it would limit growth this year. It earlier announced it would trim its summer schedule.

On Wednesday, Delta deposited 10,000 miles into the accounts of SkyMiles members who had flights canceled or delayed more than three hours between May 1 through the first week of July.

“While we cannot recover the time lost or anxiety caused, we are automatically depositing 10K miles toward your SkyMiles account as a commitment to do better for you going forward and restore the Delta Difference you know we are capable of,” said the email to customers, a copy of which was seen by CNBC.

By trimming schedules airlines could keep fares firm at sky-high levels, an important factor for their bottom lines as costs remain elevated, though bad news for travelers.

“The more airlines limit capacity the higher airfare they can charge,” said Henry Harteveldt, founder of Atmosphere Research Group and a former airline executive.

Preserving the bottom line is key with economic uncertainty ahead.

“They’re not going to get another bailout,” Harteveldt said. “They’ve squandered a lot of their goodwill.” 

More disruptions, higher revenue

Since May 27, the Friday of Memorial Day weekend, 2.2% of flights by U.S.-based carriers were canceled and nearly 22% were delayed, according to flight-tracker FlightAware. That’s up from 1.9% of flights canceled and 18.2% delayed in a similar period of 2019.

Staffing shortages have exacerbated routine problems that airlines already faced, like thunderstorms in spring and summer, leaving thousands of travelers in the lurch because carriers lacked a cushion of backup employees.

Airlines received $54 billion in federal payroll aid that prohibited layoffs, yet many of them idled pilots and urged staff to take buyouts to cut costs during the depths of the pandemic.

Airport staffing shortages at big European hubs have similarly led to flight cancellations and capacity limits. London Heathrow officials last week told carriers that it needed to limit departing passenger capacity, forcing some airlines to cut flights.

“We told Heathrow how many passengers we were going to have. Heathrow basically told us: ‘You guys are smoking something,’” United CEO Kirby said Wednesday. “They didn’t staff for it.”

A representative for Heathrow didn’t immediately comment.

Still, the big three U.S. carriers all posted profits for the second quarter and were upbeat about strong traveler demand throughout the summer.

For American and United it was their first quarter in the black since before Covid, without federal payroll support. Revenue for both airlines rose above 2019 levels.

Each carrier projected third-quarter profit as consumers continue to fill seats at fares that far exceed 2019 prices.

Source: CNBC

The national carriers of both Kenya and South Africa, Kenya Airways (KQ) and South African Airways (SAA) respectively, have signed a new codeshare agreement that is set to open more destinations for seamless travel opportunities between the two African nations.

This new code-sharing agreement will see each airline sell, under its own code, flights operated by each other – South African Airways or Kenya Airways. SAA’s customers will continue to have the ability to earn Voyager Miles on these new codeshare flights. The deal enables travellers to combine flight segments and baggage on a single ticket and has come about as demand for travelling increases with the world steadily moving into a post-pandemic landscape.

Expanding a Previous Partnership

In November 2021, KQ and SAA signed a Strategic Partnership Framework to work together to increase passenger traffic, cargo opportunities, and general trade by taking advantage of strengths in South Africa, Kenya, and Africa.

Now, this new codeshare agreement builds upon an existing special prorate agreement which was signed earlier this year.

Kenya Airways and South African Airways are also exploring ways to enhance co-operation on their respective frequent flyer programs, including reciprocal earning and redemption opportunities and popular benefits such as lounge access, and will be announcing the details in due course.

Adding New Destinations

Passengers travelling out of South Africa will have more options to travel to African destinations including Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Entebbe, Mombasa, and Kisumu while KQ passengers will have more choices for travel into Southern Africa including Cape Town, Durban, and Harare immediately.

The growth of the partnership will see the addition of Zanzibar, Kilimanjaro, Juba, Douala, Lusaka Ghana and Nigeria subject to government approval as the airlines seek to offer more options for travellers within Africa.

“We are very pleased to implement the codeshare with SAA which offers our shared customers more options and flight combinations. As part of our Strategic Partnership Framework, we will contribute to making it easier for passengers to reach exciting new destinations within Africa,” said Allan Kilavuka, Kenya Airways CEO and Group MD.

“The additional destinations we believe will offer better customer journey thanks to the number of frequencies and connections created as well as many opportunities for trade and tourism.”

“We are looking forward to introducing Kenya Airways customers to our award-winning service, and to working closely with Kenya Airways as our partnership will improve the connections between our respective networks,” said Prof John Lamola, interim CEO of South African Airways.

Additional codeshare destinations are being evaluated between the partners and will be announced in due course, the companies say.

Source: IT News Africa

Kenya’s national carrier, Kenya Airways has announced that it will implement an exclusively cashless system effective 1st June 2022.

This will be done at the Moi International Airport in Mombasa and the Kisumu International Airport.

“The implementation of a cashless system helps to support the customer shift and preference to cashless transaction and will ease cash collection and reconciliation issues at the airports ensuring efficient services to customers,” KQ said in a notice on Tuesday.

Payments will now only be accepted through debit or credit cards and other online payment apps.

Guests can choose from alternative payment options, including Credit/Debit cards (Visa, MasterCard, AMEX, Union Pay) or M-pesa.

In 2021, Kenya airways sought to eliminate person-to-person contact by introducing cashless transactions as part of the fight against the coronavirus. 

Chief commercial and customer experience officer for Kenya Airways, Julius Thairu, said the airline was encouraging customers to use mobile money payments, debit and credit cards to boost staff and passenger safety.

Source: The Star