Kenya Airways, the national flag carrier of the East African country, and Reunion carrier Air Austral, have entered into a codeshare agreement, which took effect on October 29. This agreement gives the passengers of each airline access to the network of the other airline.

“This partnership offers us an opportunity to provide our guests with access to more destinations in the Indian Ocean islands and opens up our country for tourism opportunities from visitors coming from the islands,” highlighted Kenya Airways chief commercial and customer office Julius Thairu. “This is aligned with our commitment to provide greater connectivity, [and] market access to our customers and growth through our partners.”

“Air Austral is delighted with this partnership which opens new bridges between Africa and the Indian Ocean via our hubs, Nairobi, and Reunion Island Roland Garros Airport,” affirmed Air Austral CEO Joseph Bréma. “The partnership attests to our determination to step up our offering and, therefore, extend Reunion Island’s influence on the international stage.”

Passengers will be able to travel across the networks of both airlines, to get to their destinations, using a single ticket and paying a single fare. They will be able to book their luggage in with one carrier and retrieve it at their destination from the other one.

Kenya Airways serves 35 destinations in Africa, plus seven outside the continent, for a total of 42. These destinations include Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, Entebbe in Uganda, Johannesburg in South Africa, Lagos in Nigeria, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, London in the UK, Paris in France, and New York in the US.

The Air Austral network covers the Indian Ocean islands – the Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mayotte and the Seychelles. It also covers Paris, Johannesburg, Chennai in southern India and Bangkok in Thailand.

The Kenya Airways passenger fleet is composed of Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner widebody airliners, and Boeing 737-800 and smaller Embraer E190 single-aisle airliners. (The carrier also has a couple of Boeing 737-300F cargo aircraft.) The Air Austral fleet also includes Boeing 787-8 aircraft, as well as Boeing 777-300 widebody airliners and Airbus A220 single-aisle aircraft.