Air Congo to launch in December

The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has decided to launch a second national carrier that will operate next to Congo Airways. The new airline, called Air Congo, will be a joint-venture between the government (51% ownership) and Ethiopian Airlines (49% ownership). Ethiopian will supply the aircraft as well as operational expertise and management. According to an interview on the website of Sam Chui with the CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, Air Congo will have a 10 aircraft-fleet that will consist of DHC-8-400s, B737-800s and two B787s.

The launch of the new airline is not without criticism in the country as the government already owns and runs Congo Airways, which was launched in 2014 and is flying since 2015. It has a fleet of two A320s, two DHC-8-400s and two ERJ190s (leased from Kenya Airways). It also has orders with Embraer for two E190-E2s and two E195-E2s, with the first of these set for delivery next year. Despite this, the government is pushing ahead and will run both airlines and has given no indication if they plan to merge or align operations between the two.

The joint-venture in DRC is not the fist one for Ethiopian Airlines as the airline also has a joint-venture in Zambia for Zambia Airways, which is set-up in a similar way with Ethiopian providing aircraft, expertise and management. Zambia Airways is also set to launch in December.

Illustration by Ministère des Transports RDC.