Kenya Airway has said that it is bound to resume talks with the country’s national carrier, Rwandair for a new possible partnership.

The company’s Commercial Director Richard Nuttall told Business Times during a recent media tour to its refurbished operational control center in Nairobi, that their was still room for dialogue between both airliners for any new partnerships.

"I think now things have moved and we are going to start talking again. There is definitely room for us to talk. There is a bit of a vacuum for us…but we are working on stimulating dialogue again,” Nuttall said.

"There are very many different types of partnerships and with this it will be a win—win on both sides. By working with Rwandair we get more on out network and may be they get more on their network by working with us,” he added.

Kenya Airways which is coded KQ, formally suspended its partnership with Rwandair mid last year, after the Rwandan carrier reportedly opted for an aircraft that had not passed a safety certification test.

The partnership involved a code sharing deal which allowed both partners to book passengers within their networks and board them on either aircraft owned by either of them.

KQ’s code sharing contract with Rwandair was signed in April 2003. The contract provided that before the airlines enter into the deal a third party airline, the third party airline has either to be IOSA certified or to have passed a safety audit by Kenya Airways.

Nuttall explained to Business Times that Rwandair had used a third party airline in one of the code-shared routes. However according to Nuttall, the third party plane was not compliant to the International Air Transport Association Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) of which KQ is a certified carrier.

"My understanding is to do with the fact that Rwanda was leasing aircrafts from other carriers or rather other sources and these had to be IOSA compliant this is an IATA requirement. You have to fulfil certain requirements,” he said.

IATA is an acronym for, The International Air Transport Association, an international industry trade group of airlines with headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

IATA publishes standards and minimum training requirements for airliners.

The company’s Managing Director Titus Naikuni said that Kenya Airways saw its revenues plunge by whooping $71.8 million (Rwf40.3 billion) which he blamed on fuel hedging.

Fuel Hedging is a contractual arrangement used by some airlines to stabilize jet fuel costs. The plan commits an airline to paying a pre-determined price for future jet fuel purchases.

During the media tour, KQ officials also announced that the company had refurbished and improved the Kenya Airways Operational Control Centre (OCC) facility with an investment worth $6.4 million (Rwf3.7 billion)

The company which has modernised its fleet with its 25 aircrafts has recently been admitted as a partial member of the elite team of airlines, known as Skyteam.

Skyteam comprises nine of the world’s best airlines, which dominate both European and American skies and partly spread their wings across the Asian and the Middle East skies.

Since 2001 Kenya Airways has also spent over $1.04 billion on modernising its fleet and upgrading its ground handling equipment and its technology to cater for its destinations.

KQ is the leading customer choice in the region with three daily flights to Kigali. It has over the years positioned itself as the most profitable carrier on the continent.

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