Turkish Airlines (TK) has been revealed as the potential partner the Congolese government has approached apropos the setting up of a renewed national carrier to replace the semi-defunct LAC Lignes Aériennes Congolaises (4V). |
| Kinshasa N'djili International (MarkT) |
Congolese newswire, Radio Okapi, says that a team of experts will fly to Istanbul before month's end to discuss terms of the partnership which Kinshasa wants ready by the end of May latest in time for a June launch. However, it still remains to be seen whether or not Turkish will show any interest in this proposal and if so, what shareholding it will take.
Turkish Airlines was also linked to a similar deal in Niger in which "Niger Airways" would have been a 51% owned by private/public Nigerien investors and the remaining 49% to be held by Turkish Airlines. Turkish however, has denied these reports stating it had "not made any decisions regarding the issue."
Meanwhile, a new BASA between Ankara and Kinshasa signed in Izmir recently by Congo's Minister of Transport, Justin Kalunga, will see Turkish Airlines increasing its frequencies to daily, as opposed to the previous twice weekly arrangement.