Why Qatar Airways made a move on SA's Airlink

Qatar Airways' move to buy 25% stake in Airlink - the maximum stake it can own under South African law - is the latest evidence of the strong drive of Middle Eastern airlines into Africa aviation.

Asset manager Coronation and the Sishen Iron Ore Company Community Development Trust each own a third of the South African company. Airlink CEO Rodger Foster's family holds about 23%, while 10% is owned by the family of Barrie Webb, who co-founded Airlink with Foster.

Foster said all the airline's shareholders are diluting their stakes proportionally to allow for the 25% investment by Qatar Airways.

He added that the 25% equity and voting rights that will now be controlled by a foreign investor make up the maximum share allowed under South African law for locally domiciled aviation companies, under their interpretation of the legislation.

Qatar Airways, which is owned by the Qatari government, was only founded as an airline in 1993, two years before Airlink was officially launched in 1995. Since then, it has won the Skytrax Best Airline award a record eight times, including in 2024, and now flies to over 170 destinations.

Africa is integral

Qatar Airways Group CEO Badr Mohammed Al-Meer told News24 that Africa is integral to the future of the business.

"Qatar Airways cannot cover all of Africa. The idea of having this partnership with Airlink is basically to cover as many destinations where Qatar Airways cannot operate to, where we can make sure that we will be able to make those passengers or those travellers come fly on Qatar Airways through Airlink.

"Airlink will be the airline that will be the partner that will bring passengers from those parts of the continent that we don't fly to," he said.

Foster hopes that the deal, which still needs to get regulatory approval, will help Airlink accelerate its growth by leveraging the expertise and scale of its new Qatari partners. "We are delighted to have a very strong partner such as Qatar Airways. When we take a look at the value-add, it’s not just about the equity; it's about the expertise, it's about the value systems and it's about the global reach."

He added that Airlink is looking at getting large-engine aircraft to help drive down unit costs on a few select routes.

Airlink currently flies over four million passengers a year on over 85 000 flights to more than 50 destinations across southern and eastern Africa. Foster said Airlink has no plans of expanding its direct operations beyond Africa at this stage.

New rules

"We think that tying up with the likes of Qatar is going to give us global reach, it is going to tie our network system to their network system and give every customer within our source markets, via our hubs, the greatest connectivity in the world," he said.

According to Foster, Middle Eastern airlines have changed the dynamics of African aviation over the last 10 to 20 years. "Qatar has 29 destinations in Africa and the other Middle Eastern airlines have also got many destinations in Africa. The dynamic has changed. You will find that the Middle Eastern airlines, and Qatar Airways in particular, are now reaching source markets more comprehensively than some of the traditional global airline network systems were doing."

Emirates Airlines also has a vast presence in Africa, with flights to 19 countries on the continent. Emirates now executes 42 flights out of South Africa's three biggest airports a week, up from three weekly flights when it started operating in South Africa in 1995.

Al-Meer said he expects regulatory approval to be secured quickly and that the Airlink and Qatar Airways teams will be engaging in strategic discussions while the approval is still pending.

**News24 was in Doha for the announcement. The trip was paid for by Qatar Airways.