You may soon pay less for flights to various destinations as Kenya Airways (KQ) plans to form an alliance with two other African airlines. The country’s leading air courier intends to partner with Ethiopian Airlines and South African Airways (SAA) in a bid to lock horns with the likes of KLM (Air France), Emirates and British Airways.

According to the Center for Aviation (CAPA), Africa may soon see the emergence of a new Pan-African airline. The Center, which has described the airliners as Sub-Saharan Africa’s Big Three, believes that smaller regional couriers may face some opposition if the merger takes flight.

Only The Strong Will Survive

“What we need to do is, we need to merge our airlines,” said KQ CEO, Titus Naikuni. Ironically, KQ is the biggest courier in East Africa. What CAPA is describing is more of a food-chain, where international airlines are at the top while local couriers only have to worry about smaller regional competitors. “There is no way that we are going to survive as small airlines,” Naikuni added.

Speaking during the Africa Airlines Association (AFRAA) conference in Johannesburg, he noted that bringing the three couriers together would create one large strong airline, describing their current state as lambs, waiting to be slaughtered.

CAPA reports that domestic and regional couriers fear that the merger will only benefit KQ, Ethiopian Airlines, SAA and Egypt Air. The Center notes that, given their vast resources, these bigger couriers can quickly take the lion's share of a freed-up market leaving only scraps for smaller airlines.

Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines already have two regional operators, under their wings. KQ has Precision Air while Ethiopian Airlines works with ASKY. CAPA believes that these regional couriers will help expand their network.

In the past, KQ has only gone as far as to form Code Share agreements with other airlines. Now the East African giant hopes to fly to even greater heights.

According to CAPA merger may spell major changes for passengers as flight fares are likely to drop, depending on how the situation plays out. The joint venture may make the proposed Pan-African airline the 30^th largest courier group in the world with over 650,000 weekly seats. Delta, the world’s number one courier (according to CAPA), currently has 3.73 million weekly seats.

Meanwhile FastJet, Africa’s newest airline, is relying on an average fare of USD 70 (KES 6020) to USD 80 (KES 6880) while trying to encourage Africans to swap road travel for air travel. Local flights could go as low as USD 20 (KES 1720)