A picture taken on August 1, 2020 shows Kenya Airways planes parked at the parking bay at the Jomo Kenyatta international airport in Nairobi. (Photo by SIMON MAINA/AFP via Getty Images) Kenya Airways (KQ) has revealed it has mutually terminated a deal with Congo Airways, the national flag carrier of the Democratic Republic of the Congo after only six months.
The two airlines had entered a two-year deal in early 2021 where Kenya Airways was meant to lease two of its Embraer E190 aircraft to Congo for their cargo codeshare partnership.
"We are exploring other partnership opportunities with Congo Airways and continue with the cargo partnership," the Kenyan carrier’s Chief Executive Officer, Allan Kilavuka confirmed. Kenya Airways Embraer 190-100 Embraer The news comes only days after the Kenyan flag carrier announced a route review of its domestic and international passenger operations following a recovery in travel demand from the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is also reported the Congolese airline was awaiting the imminent return of one of its two in-house A320-200s – 9S-AKD (msn 3412).
The airlines are currently in maintenance in Morocco. Its second A320-200, 9S-ALU (msn 3362), is in active service, according to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module. Congo Airways Airbus A320-200 Congo Airways In April 2021, the two signed a codeshare agreement to increase their reach in the domestic, African and international routes. The codeshare agreement gave KQ direct access to Kinshasa from Nairobi.
A codeshare is a business deal between two or more airlines, which allows them to sell seats on each other’s flights and expand their network.
As part of the agreements, the two national carriers collaborated on training and sharing excess passengers and cargo.
