NAIROBI (Reuters) – Air France-KLM sees potential for expansion in Africa thanks to growing demand, with the continent a strategic priority for the group, airline executives said on Friday.
“We believe there is more potential to be seized, especially here in Kenya,” said Marius van der Ham, regional director for East and Southern Africa, Ghana and Nigeria, at an opening ceremony for a new regional office in the Kenyan capital.
The region is the fifth largest in the network of the group’s 12 regional operations, after North America, Greater China, Korea and Japan, he said.
Air France-KLM has already increased the capacity of its Nairobi-Europe flights by 14% this year, said Marius van der Ham.
The airline operates two flights a day from Nairobi to Amsterdam and Paris, compared to one daily flight to Amsterdam and five weekly flights to Paris before the pandemic, he added.
The company is adding three flights to its Paris-Johannesburg route to meet increased demand during the peak summer season.
The group has also set up new flights between Paris and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, said Marius van der Ham.
“Africa is really strategic for the group,” said Zoran Jelkic, Senior Vice President (SVP) long-haul. Group executives did not say how much they would invest in the capacity expansion.
Air France-KLM competes for the growing African travel market with African carriers like Ethiopian Airlines, Gulf carriers like Emirates and other European operators like British Airways.
(Report Duncan Miriri; French version Lina Golovnya, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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