Air Austral and Air Madagascar have signed a “privileged partnership agreement” with Kenya Airways, establishing Nairobi as a mainland Africa hub for the three airlines.
The signing of the agreement with Kenya Airways firms up an MoU that was formed between the three airlines in July.
“This partnership will increase our product offering and is consistent with Kenya Airways’ strategy of increasing revenue and improving network efficiency through partners, while focusing on high-yield business and leisure segments. Our customers will now have better access to Madagascar and Réunion,” Kenya Airways CEO Sebastian Mikosz said.
Reunion-based Air Austral took an equity stake in Air Madagascar late last year, creating a strategic partnership between the two airlines.
“With the signing today of this new partnership with Kenya Airways, the strategic partnership between Air Austral and Air Madagascar is taking on a new dimension,” Air Austral president and CEO Marie-Joseph Malé said.
Kenya Airways and Air Madagascar will start codesharing on Nairobi-Antananarivo from Jan. 21, 2019 while the codeshare between Kenya Airways and Air Austral on Nairobi-Réunion is yet to be confirmed.
Air Madagascar CEO Rolland Besoa Razafimaharo described these codeshares as a “promising first step,” adding: “Whether commercial or operational, there are many opportunities for synergies.”
Under the partnership—which also includes Air Austral subsidiary EWA Air, Air Madagascar subsidiary Tsaradia and Kenya Airways LCC Jambo Jet—the airlines are planning to share technical and training resources.
“This formalisation marks the beginning of the implementation of concrete actions around this new partnership that will be deployed during 2019,” the partners said.