Serial lossmakers South African Airways and Kenya Airways signed a strategic partnership framework in November as a step towards starting on a pan-African airline group by 2023.
Analysts doubt that two negatives will make a positive, and say implementing the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) would do more to advance Africa’s aviation industry.
SAATM was launched by the African Union (AU) in 2018 to seek to liberalise the continent’s aviation. The AU says that full liberalisation would cut the average intra-Africa fare by 26%, meaning an annual saving of $1.46b for passengers. As of November, 35 AU member states out of 55 have committed to the project.