You’ve probably heard of the ongoing conflict that is destabilising Ethiopia, a country in the Horn of Africa. And we bet you are familiar with Ethiopian Airlines, a leading air transport company that typically dominates the African aviation industry. Unfortunately, the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia has negatively impacted the airline, thereby threatening its market share.
Also, Kenya Airways which, for the longest time, has been an arch rival of Ethiopian Airlines, has recently been grappling with financial losses. As Ikeanumba gathered the Nairobi-based airline has been relying on government bailouts to survive. And this raises the question of whether the airline has what it takes to actually replace its rival at this time.
Meanwhile, other regional players have noticed the vacuum and are currently positioning themselves to replace both Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways. During the recently-held 2021 Dubai Air Show, both Air Tanzania and Uganda Airlines signed major deals with Boeing and Airbus for the supply of aircraft and spare parts.
Specifically speaking, Air Tanzania signed a deal with American aircraft manufacturer, Boeing, for the supply of two 737 MAX jets, a 787-8 Dreamliner and a 767-300 Freighter.
“Our flagship 787 Dreamliner is popular with our passengers. so, the introduction of the 737 MAX and 767 Freighter will give Air Tanzania exceptional capability and flexibility to meet passenger and cargo demand within Africa and beyond,” said Ladislaus Matindi, the Chief Executive Officer of Air Tanzania. According to him, the expansion will happen both within Tanzania and other African markets.
While Uganda Airlines signed a Flight Hour Services Agreement with Airbus, the two are also exploring a potential new aircraft acquisition deal in the near future. In the meantime, however, Airbus will provide critical spare parts for Ugandan Airlines so the carrier can meet its daily spare parts requirements.
“This ensures that we have constant access to required spares supply. The alternative would have been to buy our own spares which would require an astronomical capital investment running into hundreds of millions of dollars,” said acting CEO, Jenifer Musiime.
Another airline that has been positioning itself for dominance is RwandAir Limited, the state-owned national carrier of Rwanda. Business Insider Africa understands that the company recently signed a codeshare agreement which allows the Rwandan airline to use Qatar Airways’ huge network to offer its customers enhanced services and connectivity to more than 60 destinations across Africa and the rest of the world.
With these deals, Air Tanzania, Uganda Airlines and RwandAir are obviously poised to snatch market share from both Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways. However, it remains to be seen whether they can actually succeed.
