Brussels Airlines to Fly to Mali

European carrier Brussels Airlines has further strengthened its presence in the African market by confirming plans to launch flights between Brussels and Bamako, the capital of Mali. The airline will introduce a twice weekly flight from September 7, increasing its network in the continent to 21 destinations. Brussels Airlines carried an estimated 555,000 O&D passengers on its flights between Europe and Africa in the past year, up 13.6 per cent on the previous 12 month period.

The carrier’s new flight will be operated by an Airbus A330-300 which will continue on to Accra, Ghana following its stop in Mali. It will be the first non-stop flight to the African country from Belgium since the country’s former national carrier Sabena ceased operations in 2001.

Apart from the export of a range of agricultural produce and raw materials, Mali is also known for its World Heritage sites, the reason why it has been referred to as the “Jewel in West Africa’s Crown”. Along the ancient Caravan Trail lies the legendary city of Timbuktu. Also the incomparable mosque of Djenné – the largest mud-built structure in the world- and the impressive ‘Falaise de Bandiagara’ attract many tourists. It will also be the location of this year’s Routes Africa event, which takes place in the capital Bamako between July 3 and 5.

“We are very happy to add Mali to the growing African network of Brussels Airlines”, said Bernard Gustin, Chief Executive Officer, Brussels Airlines. “After the four new destinations of last year, we can now include three more African destinations in our offer: Bamako, Marrakech and Agadir.”

Brussels Airlines becomes the second European flag carrier to introduce flights to Bamako this year - TAP Portugal launched a three times weekly service from Lisbon last week (June 5). As the table above shows, Air France currently dominates the market with a 49.6 per cent share of the traffic between Europe and Mali, but has seen its penetration decrease over the past couple of years as other airlines have boosted their links to Mali. Royal Air Maroc (RAM) has seen its share of the market increase by 5.5 per cent in the last 12 months, while Air Algerie has seen a 3.8 per cent increase in traffic.

Air France currently offers a daily link to Paris CDG, while Spanair has a twice weekly flight to Barcelona and Aigle Azur provides a four times weekly link from Paris Orly. Royal Air Maroc and Air Algerie provide links via their Casablanca and Algiers hubs, with eight and three weekly services, respectively.