A proposal by British Airways and Qatar Airways to expand their partnership is set to have far-reaching effects on East African carriers that are grappling with low numbers, high operations cost and reduced frequencies.
The plan, which comes hot on the heels of another partnership between Qatar and RwandAir, will offer greater access to Africa, Middle-East and Europe, taking much of the traffic from East Afric aregional carriers.
Travellers flying to destinations such as Nairobi, Colombo, Singapore, Doha and Sydney will emerge as great beneficiaries of the deal.
“The proposed expansion of the joint business will be great news for customers, offering them access to more destinations across the world with seamless connections,” said British Airways and CEO and chairman Sean Doyle.
“We know customers are always looking for more options to connect onto popular holiday hotspots such as the Maldives and Seychelles, and this expansion will allow them to do just that.”
Aside from pushing up competition, the deal will offer attractive fares, smoother connections, integrated booking platforms, joint customer support, and an extensive network.
“Expanding our joint business with our strategic airline partner, British Airways, is an important milestone in our ambition of providing customers access to the most extensive route network and unrivalled product,” said Qatar Airways Group CEO Akbar Al Baker in a statement.
The deal comes at a time when the British carrier has restored its daily operation to Doha from December 9.
The deal is likely to impact negatively on Nairobi as a regional hub where passengers from other regions such as West Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa travel to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) for connecting flights to Europe and the Americas.
Before Covid-19 hit last year, Qatar had opened negotiations with RwandAir to acquire a 49 percent stake in the airline. The executives of the two carriers recently confirmed that the deal is still on.
The two airlines recently signed a code sharing partnership that would give passengers a wide option in travelling to different destinations.
The new partnerships will come as a blow to not only KQ that is struggling financially, but also other carriers such as Uganda and Tanzania airlines, which are still at their infancy stage.
Qatar also acquired majority stake at the new Rwanda Airport and is likely to make Rwanda its African operation centre where passengers from other African countries can connect flights to Europe or even the US using either Qatar Airways or RwandAir without necessarily having to connect from their headquarters in Doha.
African carriers should have a reason to worry as Qatar Airlines, which heavily subsidised by the government, is likely to charge cheaply on tickets once its deal with Rwanda goes through. This will force regional airlines to lower their cost in order to remain competitive.
Qatar Airways is investing Sh131 billion at the new Rwandan Airport making it one of the largest ports in East Africa as it positions itself to become a regional hub, a status currently held by JKIA.
The move follows a deal between Kigali and Doha, which will see the Qatari government own a stake of 60 percent at the new facility.
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