London — Kenya Airways may cozy up to rival South African Airways (SAA) as the embattled companies seek to narrow the gap to the continent’s biggest carrier, Ethiopian Airlines Enterprise. The Nairobi-based airline, sub-Saharan Africa’s third largest by passenger traffic, views a closer relationship with SAA, the number two, as a possibility amid turnaround efforts at the unprofitable operators, CEO Sebastian Mikosz said in an interview. Mikosz said he has spoken with Peter Davies, the restructuring expert recruited by the South African carrier last year, to see "what we can do together." Kenya Air was taken under government control in November after posting the biggest loss in the nation’s corporate history in 2016 and is cutting routes and planes to help revive earnings. SAA, under an eighth CEO since 2010, reported a seventh straight annual loss earlier in May and is seeking emergency funding, even as it targets break-even by 2021. Co-operation between the companies could range f...
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