SOMALIA’S MAIN TWO AIRLINES MERGE TO FACE UP TO FOREIGN COMPETITION
(Posted 21st November 2015)
The arrival of international airlines in Somalia, after years of standing on the sidelines and leaving the challenging but lucrative Somali market to local airlines like Daallo and Jubba, changed the aviation game in the country over the space of just a few months.
Turkish, now flying daily to Mogadishu and Ethiopian flying to Hargeisa suddenly offered a wide range of connections through their respective hubs in Istanbul and Addis Ababa, leaving the point to point operators Daallo and Jubba suddenly see the loss of market share of passengers who hitherto used them to fly to for instance Dubai and Nairobi to connect on other airlines to their final destination. The two Somalian airlines carried about a quarter of a million passengers last year and have reportedly agreed to a full merger, with each of the previous owners now holding 50 percent in a new airline called ‘African Airline Alliance’.
It is understood that the two brands will continue to fly with their existing livery for a while until the new single airline will launch an own logo and brand identity.
Both Jubba Airways Chairman Said Quailie and Daallo Chairman Mohamed Yassin, when making the announcement, took a swipe at the Somali Federal Government for having done little to afford them equality if not protection or involve them in the bilateral air service negotiations which facilitate the entry of Turkish Airlines and Ethiopian into the Somali market.
The new airline will operate a Boeing B737-300, two Airbus A321 and expects to take delivery of at least two ATR aircraft for domestic operations and is reportedly looking at new destinations over and above Nairobi, Dubai and Jeddah. Entebbe / Uganda is apparently being eyed by the carrier as are Addis Ababa.
