Qatar Airways To Invest In Two African Airlines

QR only needs to look East to Abu Dhabi to see what happens when airlines invest in failing airlines.
If there were a commercial basis for investing in any other airlines, there would be candidates lining up to compete with QR for that investment.

Any idea why Africa hasn't seen multi-hub budget airlines spring up like they have in Europe, Asia, Australia and US?

They could have a hub in a north, west, south and east African country? Surely a Ryanair/Spirit/AirAsia/EasyJet/Jetstar model could work?

Any chance they go to oneworld?

You forget Airlink in South Africa, which is a pretty important player.

High taxes, low volumes of passengers, huge barriers to travel (passports, visas, etc). Impossible to scale. FastJet tried and failed.

Africans don't usually fly from one African country to another on holiday. Business travel is also limited, but that is covered by the national carriers in most countries already. Africa is poor, the market just isn't there.

QR should focus on what it does best, running QR. These projects area always a waste of money - as someone else has said below with the example of Etihad. Also QR has had failure with Air Italy, which burned millions.

Is McKinsey advising QR? Their hunter strategy was so successful for Swissair.

When Delta does it it's genius, when not Delta does it it's a terrible idea.

Much better choice than SAA, actually properly run and they have a larger fleet. Would love to see some QR Fifth Freedom routes from UK direct to CPT & JNB (maybe using Birmingham instead of LHR or Gatwick) - much nicer than going via Doha; plus they could provide some decent competition to BA and VS who charge way too much on that route. QR could then use Airlink as a local partner to get around the rest of the country and up to the game reserves.

Maybe not related but I have flights booked with Qatar to Maputo (Mozambique) in august, and yesterday Qatar airways did two things that are out of ordinary
- They updated my direct Doha - Maputo to add a 1 hour stopover in Durban, South Africa, they kept the flight number but the original flight is also still sold with the same flight number, so i am confused on what will be actually flying that day
- They updated my return Maputo - Doha so that i received an email the flight has changed but everything remained the same.
- All reward inventory to Maputo is gone
So maybe they are adding capacity to South Africa with the take over of South African? and they will force me to connect there. Air Mauritius is also for sale, so I would also bet on them.

Whatever airline it is, I just hope OneWorld snags them into the alliance. Can't wait for RwandAir to join, and if South African Airways was to leave Star Alliance that would be great news!

I am really impressed by Rwanda as a country but Rwandair is that classic government owned model with goals more related to connectivity and economic growth than profitability. That makes this feel like an extremely ambitious and objectively questionable investment

Surely they are looking at AirLink instead of SAA? It has great regional connectivity without all the baggage.

Someone above accurately got it - other airlines have invested in airlines that have ended up failing.
Delta has managed to invest in airlines and keep them alive and in joint ventures.

It doesn't have to be a 'major airline'- after all, Rwandair is no KQ or ET. LM and TAAG both have reasonable networks with some intercontinental service, there's oil and gas traffic and the respective governments are looking to develop inbound tourism. South Africa is already well served by numerous carriers, it seems more sensible to try and open new markets with better yield potential.

Kigali, for all those people the U.K. conservatives want to deport in return for huge amounts of cash to rebuild their infrastructure.

Like WestJet & AeroMexico? Oh.

So, Qatar Airways must be doing well and having a lot of money piled up in their accounts. That means it's time to throw some into the incinerator. Etihad knows a thing or two about this method of getting rid pesky funds quickly.

Let's not overlook FlySafair based out of JNB with a good regional network, with a route all the up to Zanzibar.

When I was last traveling via JNB this time last year, it seemed the number of their aircraft stood out, exceeding both SAA and AirLink

Plenty of Business in Future when Britain starts Deporting Refugees arriving to Britain to be sent to Rwanda. Relatives will be visiting those stuck in Rwanda.

I hope this does not become another Etihad style story. Could the new leadership at Qatar airways planning something along the lines of what Etihad did years ago. That wont end well.

Actually it was the South African government that suspended what was apparently well advanced privatisation talks with Takatso Aviation around March 14th this year.
Takatso was to take over 51% of SAA.
SAA then announced a tiny profit and the government decided that SAA can survive on its own.

That’s a factor, but markets can be grown in the right conditions.

The bigger issue for such a capital-intensive industry is that the politics and bureaucracy of ownership, operations, certifications, and infrastructure *across multiple countries* in Africa are unpredictable and maddening.

The lack of a robust leisure or business market as you outline (plus cumbersome visa processes for many travelers) then means it’s harder for an airline to grow enough to make up for those bigger barriers.

It’s easy to take for granted the (relative) ease of setting up multi-hub budget airlines elsewhere in the world. But given the rising populist pressures against multilateralism and against freer trade and movement, we also shouldn’t assume that the rest of the world has permanently moved beyond such barriers.

If more than two refugees actually end up in Rwanda, I’ll buy you a shower on a A380.

By the way, before we discuss the actual substance of what’s said, can I just note what a breath of fresh air Al Meer is, compared to his predecessor? He’s smart, he’s to the point, and he’s no drama. He doesn’t provide the same viral soundbites that Al Baker did, and I’d say that’s a good thing.

The differences are really showing up, especially if you compare this to the investment decisions that have been made under Akbar Al Baker administration (namely Air Italy) - though I can't criticise the IAG investment. QR also considered an acquisition of TAAG at one point during his administration, so...

You miss the very critical point that the Air Services Licensing Act states that any license holder in South Africa must meet the requirements of 51% ownership by South African citizens, as well as 75% ownership and control by residents of South Africa.

Consequently, any investment into an airline licensed by South Africa would necessarily be limited to no more than 25% voting control.

Sorry, I just made a typo and it somehow bolded all the comments below. Maybe writing an extra could help...

Build your economy first and the profit will follow. Plus Rwanda is landlocked with limited connectivity. Kagame is playing the long game with Rwandair.

you do realize that AeroMexico and Westjet are both still operating?

Swissair, Sabena etc are not

hmm...... will this be yet another 'tears befor bedtime' episode?

Interestingly South African media are suggesting it is likely LAM Mozambique Airlines or Air Zimbabwe. Not a South African carrier. Apparently South Africa has foreign shareholding issues.

Definitely not FlySafair