Airline News
Mainland carriers Africa-bound
April 20th 2015
Mainland flag carrier, Air China, and Haikou-based Hainan Airlines, have entered talks with executives at South African Airways (SAA) with the view of either creating a West Africa-based hub or buying equity in struggling SAA, said Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the matter. Read More » Last year, South Africa's Minister of Public Enterprises, Lynne Brown, said the government would consider a strategic partner for SAA, after injecting funds into the airline via with two bailouts worth 10 billion rand ($829.36 million). In December, SAA said it was seeking an equity partner to aid its recovery and had identified Etihad Airways as a potential suitor. Etihad quickly denied any interest in Johannesburg-based SAA.
Establishing a West Africa hub would help counter competition from fast-growing Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways, while providing access to the continent that feeds China with most of its natural resource requirements,the Bloomberg source said. To underscore airline operator interest in Africa, the Ghanaian government last month said it “had requests from Kenya Airways, Qatar Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines [and] several others” as it prepares to launch a national carrier “by the end of this year at the earliest”.
Africa is a growing market for the Mainland carriers. Air China will start a thrice-weekly Beijing – Johannesburg Boeing B777-300ER service from mid-June and a thrice-weekly Addis Ababa Airbus A330-200 rotation from October. China Southern Airlines plans to ply the Guangzhou – Nairobi route from August 5 with thrice-weekly A330-200 flights. As with most Mainland carriers’ long-haul routes, the Chinese government is expected to be subsidizing these new routes.
