South African Airways

Rapidly expanding Kenya Airways charts growth with plan to serve every inhabited continent by 2017

Kenya Airways plans to launch its first services to North America, South America and Australia by 2017, making it one of the few carriers to serve every inhabited continent. While these three continents will give Africa's currently fifth-largest airline by seats a global presence, its future is pegged on Asia, with the carrier over the next 10 years planning to launch seven new routes into China, six in the Indian Subcontinent and three across North and Southeast Asia as well as having a growing presence in Europe and the Middle East. It is poised to become Africa's largest carrier.

Growth will be fuelled by Africa's status as a burgeoning market, as well as reliance on partners: Kenya Airways will open routes to SkyTeam member hubs in Xiamen (Xiamen Airlines), Hanoi (Vietnam Airlines), Seoul (Korean Air), Moscow (Aeroflot) and Prague (Czech Airlines). The intercontinental focus follows Kenya's strong emphasis on regional Africa, with the carrier aiming to serve every African nation by the end of 2013. 

Simple ownership change to forgive USD150m of debt is not enough to place Air Zimbabwe back on track

Zimbabwe has forced the issue of rising debt at national carrier Air Zimbabwe by disbanding the airline, officially known as Air Zimbabwe Holdings, and re-launching it as Air Zimbabwe Private Limited. Local reports have put the carrier's debt at USD150 million, USD30 million of which is owed internationally, including in the US and China. The ownership structure of the new airline has not been disclosed, although the Government is reportedly trying to woo investors.

The move is not a cure-all. Before the new carrier can be taken seriously, it needs not only independent management but also structural changes within government to benefit the country and trickle down to the airline.

South African Airways continues push into Central Africa

Alongside the launch last week of non-stop service to Beijing, South African Airways (SAA) has been working on improving its connections in Africa, and has recently launched service to three Central African destinations: Pointe Noire in the Republic of the Congo, Kigali in Rwanda and Bujumbura in Burundi. This follows expansion last year into Ndola, Zambia.

United Airlines eager to tap expected growth in US-Africa market

United Airlines aims to further expand its network in Africa, the fast-growing market it only began serving last year and last month tripled its capacity in with the launch of Houston-Lagos service. But the rate of expansion will likely be relatively slow, reflecting some of the growing pains in Africa experienced by rival Delta Air Lines.

The opportunities in Africa for US carriers are huge given the current small number of flights in the market and the increasing economic ties between the US and several African countries. US-Africa has always been a modestly sized market that has traditionally been served primarily with connections via Europe. Slowly more direct services are opening up and over the next several years new flights are expected to be launched by US and African carriers.

Africa finally became the sixth and final continent to be added to United’s network in Jun-2010, when the carrier launched daily Boeing 767 service on the Washington Dulles-Accra route.