Qatar Airways has acquired a 25% stake in South African-based airline Airlink, the latest move as part of its expansion in Africa, it said in a statement yesterday. Qatar Airways didn’t say how much it had paid for the stake or give an indication of closing conditions or timeline. News of the state-owned Gulf carrier’s interested in Airlink first surfaced last month. The story is getting ink this morning from Reuters | Bloomberg | Associated Press.

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The agreement will give Qatar Airways access to passengers from regional cities in Africa and to direct more traffic through Doha. Airlink has a fleet of more than 65 aircraft and transports more than 3 mn passengers per year to over 45 destinations in 15 sub-Saharan African countries.

Big moves in the continent: “Africa is very important for us . . . Africa represents 18 percent of the world population, and it is really underserved as a continent,” Qatar Airways CEO Mohammed Al Meer told the Financial Times yesterday. The Gulf carrier — which operates flights to 29 destinations in Africa — is also “working very closely to finalize” its much-anticipated acquisition of 49% of Rwanda’s national carrier, RwandAir. Stake purchases in both Airline and RwandAir would represent the “last part of the equation” in Qatar Airways’s planned expansion in Africa, according to the CEO.

Appetite for more? “We already have a big basket of investments…we will not shy away from investing in other airlines if we see there is potential to collaborate and work together,” Al Meer told FT, without providing further details.

ICYMI- Qatar Airways acquired a 60% stake in a USD 1.3 bn international airport development in Rwanda back in 2019, which is slated for completion in 2027. It also inaugurated its first cargo hub outside of Qatar last year at Kigali International Airport in Rwanda in partnership with RwandAir.

QATAR STEPS UP FLIGHTS TO FOUR DESTINATIONS

MEANWHILE- Qatar Airways will put on new flights to key destinations: Qatar Airways is launching extra flights to key destinations including London (from 27 October), the Maldives’ Male (from 13 December), Miami (16 December onward), and Tokyo (starting 14 February 2025), the company said in a statement.

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