Air France-KLM sees a potential for expansion in Africa thanks to a growing demandthe continent being a strategic priority for the Franco-Dutch airline group.
“We believe there is more potential to be seized, especially here in Kenya“, told the agency Reuters Marius van der Ham, the group’s regional director for East and Southern Africa, Ghana and Nigeria, at an opening ceremony for a regional branch in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. The region is the fifth largest in the network of the group’s 12 regional operations, after North America, Greater China, Korea and Japan, he said.
The Franco-Dutch airline group, made up of Air France and KLM, has already increased the capacity of its Nairobi-Europe flights by 14% this year, said Marius van der Ham. The two airlines operate two flights a day from Nairobi to Amsterdam and Paris, compared to one daily flight to Amsterdam and five weekly flights to Paris before the pandemic, he added. In addition, Air France is adding three flights to its Paris-Johannesburg route to meet increased demand during the peak summer season. It has also set up new flights between Paris and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
“Africa is really strategic for the group“said Zoran Jelkic, Senior Vice President (SVP) long-haul, quoted by the agency Reuters. The Franco-Dutch group did not specify how much they would invest in the capacity expansion. In the African market, it competes with African carriers like Ethiopian Airlines, Gulf carriers like Emirates and Qatar Airways, and other European carriers like British Airways.
