■ KENYA: Fly540, Qatar Airways sign interline deal.

Fly540 Kenya (5H), has announced the expansion of its flight network with the signing of its first international interline agreement with Qatar Airways (QR) which will initially entail providing an inbound interline service for passengers arriving in Kenya.

Under the terms of the agreement, Qatar Airways’ passengers will be able to connect with a Fly540 Kenya flight at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi and fly to destinations within Fly540 Kenya’s network using one itinerary. This will ensure that passengers have seamless, through-baggage and hassle-free onward connections to destinations including Eldoret, Kisumu, Lamu, Lodwar, Malindi and Mombasa as well as Juba and Zanzibar.

Qatar Airways operates double daily flights between Doha and the Kenyan capital. Passengers can connect over Doha to and from key cities across Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific.

Fly540 Kenya

“We are delighted to have signed this interline agreement with Qatar Airways, which is our first such agreement,” said Don Smith, CEO of Fly540 Kenya.

“This deal expands our flight network beyond Africa and to a key growth-area of the Middle East. We feel honoured to have been selected to partner one of the world’s premier airlines, which reflects the strength of our offering in Kenya, and we look forward to welcoming Qatar Airways passengers onboard.”

Being the first interline agreement between the two airlines, it will provide Qatar Airways’ passengers with direct access and quick transit times to a range of destinations that were not previously accessible through a single itinerary.

Qatar Airways has a similar deal with Tanzania's Precision Air (PW).

It is interesting to note that fastjet (FN) had sought to enter into a partnership with Emirates (EK) though given the lack of regional penetration fastjet has attained during its initial phase of operations, it is likely that those plans have now been shelved.