Kenya Airways joins retailing revolution. (Image source: Kenya Airways)
Kenya Airways (KQ), one of the continent’s biggest airlines, is modernising its retailing experience through a new digital commerce and technology transformation.
The national carrier has selected Sabre and London-headquartered Branchspace, a boutique travel technology and consulting firm, to accelerate its Project Kifaru digital transformation initiative.
Sabre will provide the airline’s new passenger services system backbone, built on Sabre Mosaic, while Branchspace’s Triplake platform will serve as KQ’s primary digital commerce touchpoint from the outset, giving commercial teams direct control over personalised offers across every customer channel.
The engagement positions Kenya Airways to become the first airline in Africa, and an early SkyTeam member, to adopt modern airline retailing.
Rather than waiting for a full shift to Offer/Order infrastructure, the airline said it will gain modern ecommerce capabilities immediately, allowing it to start operating as a retailer now while the underlying transition to Offer/Order progresses behind the scenes.
The partnership is designed to support KQ’s broader ambitions for innovation and growth, giving its teams the tools to experiment, iterate and bring new commercial ideas to market on an ongoing basis, rather than being tied to the pace of legacy technology cycles.
KQ continues to expand its network and ambitions as a leading carrier in Africa, with the new foundation intended to let digital retailing scale alongside that growth, turning customer experience into a lasting competitive advantage.
“This is an important transformation of Kenya Airways’ technology and digital retailing capabilities, and we are pleased to work with Branchspace as a best-of-breed provider in this field,” said Julius Thairu, chief commercial and customer officer at KQ. “The combination of digital commerce and a new PSS foundation will help us create a more flexible and personalised experience for our customers and staff, and enable a seamless transition towards the future of airline retailing.”
David Turton, chief technology officer at Branchspace, said the partnership reflected the company’s commitment to technology that gives airlines control over their own commercial destiny, supported by expertise and continuous innovation to remain at the cutting edge.
“Kenya Airways is taking a bold step in their transformation to a modern retailer, and we’re proud that our capabilities will be central to making that vision real from day one,” Turton said.
Transporting around 5.2 million passengers annually, KQ is consistently ranked as one of the top five to ten biggest airlines in Africa.
Branchspace helps airlines and other travel suppliers transition into modern digital retailers, providing a modular e-commerce ecosystem alongside digital transformation advisory services to decouple rigid airline legacy architectures from user-facing digital experiences.
