New airline partnership connects Southern and East Africa more seamlessly

Travellers flying between Southern and East Africa now have more flexible routing options, following a new commercial partnership between South Africa's second-largest airline by number of flights, CemAir, and Kenya Airways, the flag carrier airline of Kenya. The agreement marks a meaningful step towards improving regional air connectivity and simplifying multi-leg journeys across the two networks.

Implemented as a Special Prorate Agreement (SPA), the partnership introduces interline-style cooperation, allowing passengers to book selected connecting itineraries more seamlessly. In practical terms, this means smoother transfers, coordinated ticketing, and improved journey planning when combining flights operated by both carriers.

For travellers, the benefits are immediate: easier access to a wider range of destinations across Southern and East Africa, greater flexibility when building itineraries, and a more streamlined travel experience overall. Whether you’re connecting via key hubs or planning a multi-country trip, the collaboration enhances convenience for both leisure and business travel.

Both airlines have indicated that this agreement is only the first phase of a broader strategic relationship. Further cooperation - potentially including deeper network integration - remains under discussion, subject to regulatory and operational approvals.

The Special Prorate Agreement (SPA) is now live, offering travellers expanded options across the region.

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Kenya Airways introduces a new service to Mozambique! [update #2]

update (03 June 2024):  According to Kenya Airways, the airline will launch its service between Nairobi and Maputo on 19 June 2024.

update (06 March 2024): According to other news sources, Kenya Airways will launch its service between Nairobi and Maputo on 14 June 2024. The airline will operate flights on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Nairobi 09:50 > 13:00 Maputo
Maputo 13:50 > 18:45 Nairobi

The Head of Network Planning and Alliances of Kenya Airways, Martin Gitonga, announced in Jon Howell's AviaDev Insight Africa podcast that Kenya Airways is set to launch a new service to Mozambique. According to Mr Gitonga, the airline will initially operate three weekly flights between Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) in Nairobi and Maputo International Airport (MPM) in Maputo. The new service will commence on 15 June 2024. Mr Gitonga further announced in the podcast that Kenya Airways is also planning to introduce scheduled flights to another destination in Southern Africa. We'll keep you posted!

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South African Airways and Kenya Airways expand partnership!

South Africa's national flag carrier, South African Airways (SAA), and Kenya’s national carrier, Kenya Airways, are expanding their codeshare partnership. Starting this month, customers will be able to book a seamless travel journey from Kenya Airways' network to South African Airways' South American network, all under one ticket. The strategic partnership now also includes SAA's recently reintroduced service between OR Tambo International Airport (JNB) in Johannesburg and São Paulo/Guarulhos–Governador André Franco Montoro International Airport (GRU) in São Paulo (Brazil). 

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Kenya Airways to introduce a new direct service between Nairobi <> Johannesburg!

The flag carrier of Kenya, Kenya Airways, is set to introduce a new service to South Africa. Effective 10 December 2022, the airline will operate four daily direct flights on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays between Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) in Nairobi and OR Tambo International Airport (JNB) in Johannesburg. Flights are open for bookings!

South African Airways (SAA) and Kenya's national carrier, Kenya Airways, in November 2021 signed a Strategic Partnership Framework, which is seen as a key milestone towards co-starting a Pan African Airline Group by 2023. In July 2022, South African Airways (SAA) and Kenya Airways signed a codeshare agreement.

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South African Airways & Kenya Airways have signed a codeshare agreement!

South African Airways (SAA) and Kenya's flag carrier Kenya Airways have signed a codeshare agreement. Under the agreement, passengers travelling out of South Africa with South African Airways will have more options to fly to African destinations including Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Entebbe, Mombasa, and Kisumu while passengers travelling with Kenya Airways will have more choices for travel into Southern Africa including Cape Town, Durban, and Harare. The growth of the partnership will see the addition of Zanzibar, Kilimanjaro, Juba (South Sudan), Douala (Cameroon), Lusaka as well as Ghana and Nigeria subject to government approval as the airlines seek to offer more options for travelers within Africa.
Kenya Airways and South African Airways are also exploring ways to enhance co-operation on their respective frequent flyer programs, including reciprocal earning and redemption opportunities and popular benefits such as lounge access, and will be announcing the details in due course. We'll keep you posted!

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South African Airways & Kenya Airways customers to enjoy lounge access in South Africa & Kenya!

Kenya's flag carrier Kenya Airways (KQ) and South African Airways (SAA) have announced a new lounge access agreement for its customers as part of the Strategic Framework Agreement (SPF) signed in November 2021. The lounge access agreement will allow Kenya Airways business class customers to have exclusive access to the lounge services at South African Airways' ultra-modern premium lounge located at O.R Tambo International Airport (JNB) in Johannesburg. According to Simon Newton-Smith, Executive Commercial at South African Airways, the lounge access will be reciprocal for South African Airways customers flying to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) in Nairobi, Kenya.
Kenya Airways (KQ) and South African Airways (SAA) signed a Strategic Framework Agreement (SPF) in November 2021 to work together to increase passenger traffic, cargo opportunities, and general trade by taking advantage of strengths in South Africa, Kenya, and Africa and eventually form a Pan-African carrier.

NEWS: @KenyaAirways (KQ) and @flysaa (South African Airways) have announced a new lounge access agreement for their customers as part of the Strategic Framework Agreement (SPF) signed in November 2021. Follow thread for more... pic.twitter.com/icS5qctR8q

— Kenya Airways (@KenyaAirways) April 1, 2022

South African Airways & Kenya Airways are planning to launch a "Pan African Airline Group"! [update]

update (05 January 2022): The plans to start a Pan African Airline Group by 2023 does not mean that South African Airways (SAA) and Kenya Airways merge in the future. 

South African Airways (SAA) and Kenya's national carrier, Kenya Airways, have signed a Strategic Partnership Framework, which is seen as a key milestone towards co-starting a Pan African Airline Group by 2023. The partnership framework follows the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) that the two airlines signed in September 2021 to foster the exchange of knowledge, expertise, innovation, digital technologies, and best practice between the two airlines. The signing of the Strategic Partnership Framework by the two African airlines will see both airlines work together to increase passenger traffic, cargo opportunities, and general trade by taking advantage of strengths in South Africa, Kenya, and Africa. It is expected that the partnership will improve the financial viability of the two airlines. Customers will also benefit from more competitive price offering for both passenger and cargo segment. We'll keep you posted!

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South African Airways & Kenya Airways have signed a memorandum of co-operation!

South Africa's flag carrier, South African Airways, and the national airline of Kenya, Kenya Airways, have signed a memorandum of co-operation with a longer-term view to co-starting a Pan-African Airline Group that in time will enhance mutual growth potential by taking advantage of strengths of the two airlines’ busy hubs.
According to South African Airways' Interim CEO Thomas Kgokolo, the memorandum will help improve customer experience by offering a wider range of choices and destinations. It will also harness internal resources and capacities leading to sustainable and cost-effective growth. This includes shared services in the areas of route networks, fleet, and capacity deployment; exploring economic, technical as well as maintenance, repair, and overhaul opportunities to achieve economies of scale. The collaboration between South African Airways and Kenya Airways will also assist both airlines in the current and post-pandemic business and travel environment. This involves, joint recovery strategies and other cost containment strategies that will aid recovery of both carriers in an increasing competitive African airline environment.
In a next step, South African Airways and Kenya Airways will set up a joint working group to further discuss the memorandum and to put in place systems to achieve their joint stated objectives. We'll keep you posted!

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South Africa: US airline Delta Air Lines now offering flights to Cape Town via Nairobi!

Major US airline Delta Air Lines and Kenya's flag carrier, Kenya Airways, have expanded their codeshare agreement, increasing the choice of destinations offered by Delta Air Lines in Africa and extending Kenya Airways’ reach in North America via John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York City. Through the enhanced agreement Delta-marketed codeshare flights are available on Kenya Airways’ services from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) in Nairobi to Cape Town International Airport (CPT) in Cape Town (South Africa), RG Mugabe International Airport (HRE) Harare (Zimbabwe) and Kigali International Airport (KGL) in Kigali (Rwanda). It also enables Delta customers flying nonstop on the airline’s services from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Accra (Ghana) to connect with Delta-marketed codeshare flights to Monrovia (Liberia) and Freetown (Sierra Leone) operated by Kenya Airways.
From John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), Kenya Airways has placed its code on Delta Air Lines'  services to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in Arlington, Virginia, next to the border of Washington, D.C., as well as to Indianapolis International Airport (IND) in  Indianapolis, Indiana. Other destinations within the codeshare include Chicago in Illinois, Denver in Colorado, Orlando in Florida, Miami in Florida, Raleigh in North Carolina, Phoenix in Arizona and Charlotte in North Carolina.

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Airlink and Kenya Airways have signed an interline agreement!

South African privately-owned regional carrier Airlink and the flag carrier airline of Kenya, Kenya Airways, have signed an interline agreement. Through the agreement Airlink customers are able to book a through ticket to Nairobi and enjoy connections to the rest of Kenya Airways destinations within Africa (e.g. Entebbe, Kigali, Dar es Salaam, Bujumbura, Kinshasa and more), while Kenya Airways passengers flying to South Africa will be able to connect with Airlink operated flights to various destinations in Southern Africa such as Windhoek, Durban, Gaborone, Maseru, Pemba, Maputo, Port Elizabeth, among others.

An Interline agreement between airlines allows passengers to change from one flight on one airline to another flight on another airline without having to gather their bags or check-in again.

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Kenya: Kenya Airways has resumed flights to New York!

Kenya's flag carrier, Kenya Airways, is operating flights to the US again. The airline resumded weekly non-stop flights between Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) in Nairobi and John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York on 29 November 2020. Kenya Airways suspended passenger flights to New York on 27 March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was set to resume operations in October 2020 but put aside the plan over increased cancellation of flight bookings. Kenya Airways launched its inaugural flight to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York in October 2018. 

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Kenya: Kenya Airways to resume international operations on 01 August 2020!

Kenya's flag carrier, Kenya Airways, will resume international operations on 01 August 2020. The airline will intially be operating reduced frequencies to 31 destinations in Africa, as well as to London in the United Kingdom (3x weekly), Amsterdam in the Netherlands (3x weekly), Paris in France (3x weekly), Mumbai in India (5x weekly) and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (5x weekly). Destinations in (Southern) Africa include Nampula in Mozambique (2x weekly), Harare in Zimbabwe (4x weekly), Lusaka in Zambia (4x weekly) Lilongwe in Malawi (4x weekly) and Ndola in Zambia (2x weekly). Flights to Blantyre (Malawi), Luanda (Angola), Johannesburg, Cape Town (South Africa), Livingstone (Zambia), Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) and Maputo (Mozambique) will remain suspended. Kenya Airways' intercontinental services to Rome (Italy), Geneva (Switzerland), New York City (USA), Bangkok (Thailand) and Guanghzou (China) will also remain suspended.

Kenya: Kenya Airways and Safarilink have signed a one-way codeshare agreement!

Kenya's flag carrier, Kenya Airways, and Safarilink, a Kenyan regional airline based based at Wilson Airport in Nairobi, have signed a one-way codeshare agreement. The agreement allows passengers of Kenya Airways to combine their travel experience between respective international destinations and 18 destinations that Safarilink operates within Kenya and to Tanzania. The partnership will see Kenya Airways place its codeshare flight numbers on the Safarilink flights so that when customers from international destinations book online, they are able to book with connectivity to all Safarilink destinations.

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Kenya Airways & Oman Air have extended their codeshare agreement!

The flag carrier of Kenya, Kenya Airways, and the national carrier of the Sultanate of Oman, Oman Air, have expanded their already existing codeshare cooperation. Effective since 01 October 2019, the codeshare expansion allows Oman Air to place its "WY"-code on Kenya Airways operated flights between Nairobi and Entebbe (Uganda) as well as between Nairobi and Johannesburg (South Africa). In return, Kenya Airways places its "KQ"-code on Oman Air's flights between Muscat and Karachi (Pakistan) as well as between Muscat and Lahore (Pakistan).
The following destinations will be added, subject to government and regulatory approvals for Oman Air passengers traveling beyond Nairobi to Dar Es Salam, Tanzania and for Kenya Airways passengers travelling beyond Muscat to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and the Indian cities of Bangalore, Chennai, New Delhi and Hyderabad.
Oman Air and Kenya Airways commenced their codeshare agreement covering services between Muscat and Nairobi in August 2017. 

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Delta Air Lines & Kenya Airways to expand their codeshare agreement!

American airline Delta Air Lines and Kenya's flag carrier, Kenya Airways, are set to expand their codeshare partnership in Southern Africa and East Africa by four additional routes via Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) in Nairobi. Effective 01 September 2019, Delta Air Lines will place its code (DL) on return flights operated by Kenya Airways to Julius Nyerere International Airport (DAR) in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Entebbe International Airport (EBB) in Entebbe (Uganda), Kenneth Kaunda International Airport (LUN) in Lusaka (Zambia) and Maputo International Airport (MPM) in Maputo (Mozambique).

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Malawi: The main runway at Chileka International Airport (Blantyre) will remain closed until late October 2019! [update]

update (02 January 2020): The main runway at Chileka International Airport (BLZ) in Blantyre has been re-opened on 01 January 2020.

update (16 December 2019): According to Malawi's Minister of Transport and Public Works, Ralph Jooma, Chileka International Airport (BLZ) in Blantyre will be fully open in January 2020!

update (29 November 2019): The flag carrier airline of Malawi, Malawi Airlines, has introduced a new flight time table effective from 01 until 31 December 2019 due to the extension of maintenance and rehabilitation works being carried out at the main runway at Chileka International Airport (BLZ) in Blantyre. We'll keep you posted!



update (27 November 2019): According to Malawi Tourism, the main runway at Chileka International Airport (BLZ) in Blantyre will reopen in January 2020!

update (14 November 2019): According to the Nyasa Times, major airlines are expected to return to Chileka International Airport (BLZ) in Blantyre after 30 November 2019.

update (12 November 2019): According to Malawian radio station Capital FM,  the main runway at Chileka International Airport (BLZ) in Blantyre is set to reopen in the first week of December 2019. We'll keep you posted! 

update (31 October 2019): The flag carrier airline of Malawi, Malawi Airlines, has introduced a new flight time table effective from 01 until 30 November 2019 due to the extension of maintenance and rehabilitation works being carried out at the main runway at Chileka International Airport (BLZ) in Blantyre. We'll keep you posted!



The main runway at Chileka International Airport (BLZ) in Blantyre, Malawi, will remain closed for an extended period until 31 October 2019 for maintenance and rehabilitation. The runway was originally closed on 24 April 2019 and was intended to re-open at the end of July 2019.South Africa's flag carrier, South African Airways (SAA), has therefore made alternative travel arrangements to ensure continued operations to and from Blantyre and to mitigate further impact of the runway closure on its customers and passengers. Customers of South African Airways will travel between Johannesburg and Kamuzu International Airport (LLW) in Lilongwe on board an aircraft operated by South African Airways, and then between Lilongwe and Blantyre on an Ethiopian Airlines flight, from 31 August 2019 to 31 October 2019. Ethiopian Airlines is South African Airways' partner airline in that market and there is an interline agreement to seamlessly facilitate customer transfers between the two airlines.

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Kenya Airways introduces two additional weekly fligths between Nairobi <> Cape Town!

The flag carrier of Kenya, Kenya Airways, will introduce two additional direct flights between Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) in Nairobi and Cape Town International Airport (CPT) in Cape Town. The additional service will commence from 27 October 2019 on board a Boeing 737-800. This expansion is in addition to Kenya Airways' flights already operating via Livingstone in Zambia (four times a week), and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe (three times a week), bringing the total to 12 weekly flights added to the Cape Town network.

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Kenya Airways to increase flights between Nairobi <> New York!

Kenya's flag carrier, Kenya Airways, is set to increase the number of nonstop flights between  Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) in Nairobi and John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York. From June 2019, the airline will operate seven weekly return flights instead of the current five weekly return flights to New York. In January 2019, Kenya Airways reduced the number of flights between the two destinations due to low demand from the seven to five a week.

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Malawi: The main runway at Chileka International Airport (Blantyre) to close for three month!

The main runway at Chileka International Airport (BLZ) in Blantyre, Malawi, will be closed for two month from 24 April 2019 until 24 July 2019 due to rehabilitation works. The airport's second runway ("auxiliary runway"), which can only be used by small aircrafts, will remain open during the two month. The closure of the main runway affects big aircrafts operated by Malawian Airlines, Kenya Airways as well as South African Airways. They will be temporarily diverted to Kamuzu International Airport (KIA) in Lilongwe. Blantyre's Chileka International Airport (BLZ) is located about 340 km along the M1 from the airport in Lilongwe.

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Kenya Airways & Alitalia have signed a codeshare agreement!

The flag carrier of Italy, Alitalia, and Kenya's national airline, Kenya Airways, have signed a broad codeshare agreement. Under the agreement, Alitalia will apply its "AZ" flight code on many services operated by Kenya Airways beyond Nairobi to Mombasa and Kisumu in Kenya, as well as to a further 19 African destinations, such as: Abidjan (Ivory Coast); Accra (Ghana); Addis Ababa (Ethiopia); Antananarivo (Madagascar); Brazzaville (Congo); Dar Es Salaam, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar (Tanzania); Douala (Cameroon); Johannesburg (South Africa); Kigali (Rwanda); Khartoum (Sudan); Kinshasa and Lubumbashi (Democratic Republic of Congo); Lagos (Nigeria); Maputo and Nampula (Mozambique); Moroni-Hahaya (Comoros); Seychelles. Alitalia is also widening its network in Africa, where the Italian airline now operates direct services to Johannesburg, Casablanca, Algier, Tunis and Cairo, by placing its "AZ" flight code on Kenya Airways' new service between Rome and Nairobi.
In return, Kenya Airways will expand its offer to Italy and Europe by placing its "KQ" flight code on Alitalia's services from Rome to 16 Italian domestic destinations (Brindisi, Bologna, Bari, Catania, Florence, Genoa, Lamezia Terme, Milan Malpensa, Naples, Palermo, Pisa, Reggio Calabria, Turin, Trieste, Venice and Verona) and to 9 international destinations (Athens, Barcelona, Casablanca, Geneva, Larnaca, Madrid, Malaga, Malta and Valencia).
The new codeshare flights are available for from 14 March 2019, for travels from 12 June 2019 when Kenya Airways will inaugurate its four-weekly service between Nairobi and Rome.

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