SKYTEAM TURNS 15
(Posted 16th June 2015)
Airline alliances, global as they may be or claim to be, show a mixed picture when it comes to Africa. Star Alliance has managed to attract three members on the continent, effectively covering Africa from North to South.
OneWorld in contrast has not a single member on the Africa continent and while key alliance members like Qatar Airways fly to increasingly more destinations it is nevertheless a damning indictment that a so called global alliance would so neglect Africa and not show a single member or affiliate member from the continent among their ranks.
The third of the three major alliances, SkyTeam, which is celebrating 15 years of operations on the 22nd of June, does have one member in Africa, Kenya Airways, and unless partners like KLM / Air France fly directly to cities in Africa, traffic is routed via KQ’s Nairobi hub and from there on to passengers’ final destinations.
This is clearly a win win situation, for SkyTeam, for Kenya Airways as well as for Kenya as a country and after the move into the sparkling new Terminal T1A at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport are facilities finally world class and connecting in Nairobi has gained a new dimension.
Kenya Airways, in the forthcoming World Travel Awards 2015 – the award ceremony is being held this Saturday at the Kempinski Seychelles Resort on the island of Mahe – has been nominated for 5 awards and it is understood that the airline will bag at least one major recognition on Saturday night.
This, no doubt, will be good for the morale of Kenya’s national airline, which, while financially struggling nevertheless offers service levels, on the ground and in the air, which Kenyans can be proud of and which makes it the African partner SkyTeam wanted when they admitted KQ into their ranks five years ago, after three years as an Associate Member. Happy Birthday to SkyTeam and many more Happy Landings to their member airlines passengers and crews.
