Three African regional carriers are forming a joint venture dubbed Air Inter Afrique, in the latest example of cooperation on the continent.
Benin Air Express, Air Niger and Peace Air Togo plan to join forces in late 1996 in a scheme devised by multinational carrier Air Afrique. The regionals from three of Air Afrique's owner states currently operate an F28 and an F100 leased from Air Ivoire. The venture, with a proposed startup capital of US$1.9 million, plans a dedicated fleet of two ATR42s and two ATR72s.
The carriers will take an equal stake in Air Inter Afrique and aim to attract 'as many partners as possible', says the general director of Peace Air Togo, Aristide Tekoe Djibom. Air Ivoire and Air Burkina are expected to join by 1997.
The joint venture serves two purposes. First, the survival instinct is driving the partners to work more closely together. 'The three of us are too small to stand alone or evolve independently,' says Air Niger's commercial director, Adamou Moumouni.
Second, Mohammed Ahmed, secretary general of the African Airlines Association, says Air Afrique will want the consortium to feed traffic into its longhaul services to France from its main base at Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. This will defuse mounting political pressure on Air Afrique from Benin, Niger and Togo to offer direct flights to France from each of their capitals, says Ahmed.
Operational details will be finalised in October, but the network should link the main population centres in Benin, Niger and Togo, as well as points in Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria and Chad. According to Peace Air Togo, a link to Abidjan is in the air.
Lois Jones
Source: Airline Business
