Air France KLM sees potential for further Africa expansion

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Air France KLM sees potential for further expansion in its main Africa region thanks to growing demand, with the continent a strategic priority for the group, executives said on Friday.

"We believe there is more potential to be grabbed especially here in Kenya," said Marius van der Ham, the regional manager for the East and Southern Africa, Ghana and Nigeria region at a ceremony to open a new regional office in the Kenyan capital.

The region is the fifth biggest in the group's network of 12 regional operations, behind North America, Greater China, Korea and Japan, he said.

Air France KLM has already increased capacity on its Nairobi-Europe flights by 14% this year, van der Ham said.

It operates two daily flights from Nairobi to Amsterdam and Paris, up from a daily flight to Amsterdam and five weekly flights to Paris before the pandemic, he said.

The carrier is adding three flights on its Paris-Johannesburg route to cater for higher demand during the peak summer travel season.

The group has also introduced new flights between Paris and Dar es Salaam in neighbouring Tanzania, he said.

"Africa is really strategic for the group," said Zoran Jelkic, a senior vice president for long haul. The executives did not say how much they would invest in expanding capacity.

Air France KLM competes with African carriers like Ethiopian Airlines, Gulf carriers like Emirates and other European operators like British Airways, for the growing African travel market.

But operating in those markets comes with challenges, including shortages of hard currencies in some economies, which make it difficult to repatriate their earnings, airline executives say.

(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Conor Humphries)