Qatar Airways stake in Airlink helps national carrier bolster Africa coverage: Al-Meer

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Officer Badr Mohamed al-Meer: “Qatar Airways cannot cover the whole of Africa as an airline. The idea of having this partnership with Airlink is basically to cover as many destinations as possible, where we are not currently operating.” PICTURE: Shaji Kayamkulam

Qatar Airways partnership with Airlink will ensure that the national carrier be able to serve as many destinations as possible in Africa, Group Chief Executive Officer Badr Mohamed al-Meer has said.

Speaking to Gulf Times on Tuesday, al-Meer said: “Qatar Airways cannot cover the whole of Africa as an airline. The idea of having this partnership with Airlink is basically to cover as many destinations as possible, where we are not currently operating.

“But we can now make sure we will be able to serve those passengers as well through Airlink. So, Airlink will be the airline that will be bringing all those passengers from that part of the continent where we don’t fly to.

Qatar Airways Group has acquired a 25% stake in Southern Africa’s premier independent regional carrier, Airlink.

Al-Meer emphasised that the national carrier has had a long relationship with Airlink.

“We are now strengthening this relationship and take it to a new level through our stake in Airlink.

We have been in discussions with Airlink for a few months. We have had a very close dialogue with each other. We believe it is time to take this relationship to a new level. This helps us bolster our Africa growth strategy and contribute to the continent’s economic success. We could not find a better partner to realise our commitment to Africa than Airlink.

Al-Meer added: “Our investment in Airlink further demonstrates how integral we see Africa being to our business’ future. This partnership not only demonstrates our confidence in Airlink, as a company that is resilient, agile, financially robust and governed on sound principles, but also in Africa as a whole, showing huge potential that I am delighted we are able to help start realising.”

Qatar Airways currently flies to some 29 destinations in Africa, and there’s been strong growth in the market with new destinations added to the Qatar Airways network on the continent since December 2020.

According to the national airline, Abidjan, Abuja, Accra, Harare, Kano, Luanda, Lusaka, and Port Harcourt are the African cities newly added to the extensive Qatar Airways network, while Cairo and Alexandria were resumed.