Pure chance? Probably not. When last April, Qatar Airways announced the launch of three weekly flights between Doha and Abidjan in June by Boeing 787, inaugurating its fourth route in sub-Saharan Africa since the pandemic. The Qatari carrier also took the opportunity to sign a interline agreement with local carrier Air Côte d'Ivoire.
The latter is a relatively young player in the air transport sector. It was founded in 2012, Air Côte d'Ivoire only serves regional destinations - 17 in total. It also used to serve New York in code share with Ethiopian Airlines. But the route has been suspended since the Covid pandemic. Its fleet comprises 11 aircraft including 4 Airbus A319s and 3 Airbus A320s. Two Airbus A319Neo are also on order.
Rumours of a Qatar Airways to acquire a stake in Côte d'Ivoire's national airlinewould be a win-win situation. Because the main shareholder - the State - is singularly lacking in resources for the development of the national carrier. In 2020, Air Côte d'Ivoire's traffic was halved to less than 350,000 passengers. And its deficit has widened. The airline has yet to make a single profit since its launch in 2012...
Qatar Airways could thus help to develop the Air Côte d'Ivoire fleet and densify the network. The Ivorian carrier generates more than 50% of traffic at Abidjan airport, for which there is an expansion plan.
Qatar Airways, for its part, has made no secret of its desire to establish itself in West Africa.. The carrier is already a shareholder in Rwandair and in Kigali airport since 2019. But West Africa would allow it to launch services from Qatar to the United States with a stopover in Abidjan. Or Lomé, another city in the running to attract the Qatari company...
Qatar has been forging closer strategic ties with Côte d'Ivoire for several years now - particularly in tourism and transport. Last January, the Kasada Capital Managementan autonomous subsidiary of Katara Hospitality, Qatar's hotel investment arm, acquired eight hotels in the Accor Group in Côte d'Ivoire, but also in Senegal and the Cameroon. Qatar has also helped finance part of a motorway between Yamoussoukro, the administrative capital, and Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso.
This presence would therefore give an undeniable advantage to cooperation between Qatar Airways and Air Côte d'Ivoire. And it should also benefit passengers...
