The Qatar Airways Group has acquired a 25% stake in Airlink, an independent regional airline in Southern Africa, as part of the group’s plan to expand its presence on the world’s second largest continent.

Airlink was established in 1992 and, with a fleet of over 65 modern jetliners, flies to more than 45 destinations in 15 African countries, as well as Madagascar and St Helena Island. As part of the acquisition deal, the carrier will enhance a code-sharing partnership between the two airlines, bolstering Qatar Airways’ Africa growth strategy.

“Having Qatar Airways as an equity partner is a powerful endorsement of Airlink and echoes our faith in the markets we currently serve and plan to add to our network”, said Airlink CEO Rodger Foster. “This transaction will unlock growth by providing efficiencies of scale, increasing our capacity and expanding our marketing reach. By bolstering Airlink and its business, this investment will strengthen all of the existing airline partnerships Airlink has nurtured over the years.”

Our investment in Airlink further demonstrates how integral we see Africa being to our business’ future.

Badr Mohammed Al-Meer, Qatar Airways Group CEO

Besides the code-sharing partnership, which will allow the airlines to co-operate flights, meaning that even though it is flown with the aircraft and crew of one carrier, both of them can sell tickets, the deal will also seek to align both airlines’ loyalty programs – Qatar Airways Privilege Club and Airlink Skybucks.

“This partnership not only demonstrates our confidence in Airlink, as a company that is resilient, agile, financially robust and governed on sound principles, but also in Africa as a whole, showing huge potential that I am delighted we are able to help start realising”, Qatar Airways Group CEO, Badr Mohammed Al-Meer, commented on the deal.

Qatar Airways currently flies to 29 destinations in Africa, and there’s been strong growth in the market with new destinations added to the airline’s network on the continent since December 2020. Abidjan, Abuja, Accra, Harare, Kano, Luanda, Lusaka and Port Harcourt have been added since December 2020, while Cairo and Alexandria have been resumed.

Last year, the group posted a record $1.21 billion annual profit, after a lucrative partnership as FIFA’s Official Partner for the World Cup Qatar 2022. Over the period of the championship, the airline operated some 14,000 flights bringing more than 1.4 million fans from all over the world to Qatar. Additionally, contributing to the annual turnover, the group renewed a multi-year partnership with French football team Paris Saint-Germain and replaced Emirates as the Global Airline Partner for Formula 1 for the next five years.