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Even in this inauspicious situation, marked by a global pandemic, the need for connections between countries is not just a service required by the demanding side, but is a powerful tool for companies, institutions and even Nations to grow and create welfare. Today, the fastest but most challenging way to connect one State to the other is through the air. Aviation is indeed the first way of transportation either when it is necessary to move valuable goods from point A to B or when there are customers willing to travel medium-to-long distances in very short times. However, the real challenge arises in those markets where, due to economic, political or organizational issues, is extremely difficult to build a resilient, efficient and safe network to allow people to fly freely. The first and most evident case in our era is Africa, where historical backgrounds are still restricting the economic development: the lack of reliable structures and an incomplete air liberalisation is causing the continent's backwardness. Africa is a continent with an untapped potential, especially in the transportation field. Both intra-Africa and International connections would enable its States members to flourish in this globalized world. It is unquestionable that improving the existing air transportation system would increase in several ways each African Nation's welfare. In this situation, alliances find virgin soil to proliferate, at least in theory. The very nature of this agreement is to extend the existing network of each of the undertakings, to have access to more resources that could be used for the advantage of the entire group increasing the efficiency of the combined operations. 3o million km2 , 54 states and thousands of domestic and international routes could be served better if only foreign carriers could overcome the plethora of issues which characterise the actual state of things. But why has the situation come to this? Why have alliances not yet penetrated the market? and why the solution cannot come from local carriers? The literature on African aviation covers many key themes that will be considered in the current analysis: • How African air liberalisation has impacted on intra African trade flow? • Is deregulation providing positive effects on local economies? • How carriers' alliances could be beneficial for African aviation development? And for the market in general? • Why should (and how could) African carriers enter an alliance? All these topics are treated separately most of the time, first for a matter of complexity of each theme and second for the absence of a substantial literature to refer to. However, they are connected one to the other