News From Africa

Richard Maslen March 03, 2011

TAP PORTUGAL OPENS BAMAKO ROUTE

TAP Portugal is to offer flights to Bamako in Mali this summer as it continues to expand its presence in Northern and Central Africa. The new three-times weekly flights from Lisbon will be launched from June 5 and will be operated by Airbus 320 Family aircraft. Approximately 228,000 O&D passengers travelled between Europe and Mali in 2010, with Portugal the tenth largest market for travellers in Europe. This would seem to suggest that this expansion is more about targeting a high-yield niche market or simply TAP dipping its toe in the market in preparation of expected traffic growth in Mali. It could also be more about the aspirations of Star Alliance to expand its activities between Africa and Europe than TAP simply targeting O&D traffic. Its rival SkyTeam currently dominates links from Europe with Air France offering seven weekly flights, although Star does have a single weekly rotation by Spanair from Barcelona – independent carrier Aigle Azur also offers two weekly flights from Paris Orly.

AIR NAMIBIA INTRODUCES REGIONAL JETS ON INTERNATIONAL ROUTES

Air Namibia is to utilise its recently acquired Embraer ERJ 135 regional jets to expand its flights into neighbouring South Africa, as well as upgrading its domestic network. The carrier will launch a six-times weekly Walvis Bay – Johannesburg service from April 15 and will also offer nine weekly rotations on its Walvis Bay – Cape Town link, a route currently served three-times weekly using a Boeing 737-200. Despite the increase in frequencies this will represent a slight capacity decrease from 363 to 333 seats. The Namibian flag carrier competes with South African Airways’ regional carrier SA Airlink on both routes and holds a 52 per cent share of the O&D traffic between Walvis Bay and Cape Town. Around 37,000 O&D passengers flew between Walvis Bay and Cape Town in 2010, with just under 29,000 flying from the Namibian city to Johannesburg.

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES CUTS MUMBAI FLIGHTS

African national carrier Ethiopian Airlines is to reduce its Addis Ababa – Mumbai service from a twice daily to a daily frequency although in the short-term it plans to use larger aircraft on the route. Up until March 26 it will utilise Boeing 757s or 767s on the link rather than smaller 737-800s, although from the start of the Northern Summer schedules the aircraft type will revert back to the 737-800. Ethiopian is the sole operator on the route and handled around 12,000 O&D passengers in the year ending December 2010. Despite this capacity reduction, Ethiopian will boost its overall network this summer adding flights on a number of its routes from the end of March. Links from Addis Ababa to Accra, Cairo and Riyadh will be increased to daily from six, five and three flights per week respectively, while a fourth weekly rotation will be introduced to Maputo. Additional expansion will see the Addis Ababa - Pointe Noire route served five-times per week with a 737-800 rather than three with a smaller 737-700.

AIR FRANCE REVISES ITS AFRICAN FLIGHTS

Air France is to revise its flight schedules into Nouakchott and Conakry reducing frequency but increasing capacity to the two destinations. From April 18 it will replace a five-times weekly Paris CDG – Nouakchott – Conakry link flown by an Airbus A319LR with a three-times weekly A330 service. The airline has also delayed the proposed launch of its flights to Freetown and Monrovia, both add-ons to a revised Paris CDG – Conakry service, from March 27 to April 18. It means it will now serve Conakry eight-times every week rather than five at present with five non-stop services and three one-stop flights. Air France is the dominant European carrier in the Guinean market accounting for 63 per cent of the O&D traffic between the country and Europe.

SA AIRLINK TO INCREASE FLIGHTS TO PHALABORWA FROM JOHANNESBURG

South African regional carrier SA Airlink is targeting additional O&D and transfer traffic on its enhanced schedules on the Johannesburg – Phalaborwa route. From February 28, the airline is to offer 17 flights per week, up from 13 at the current time. These will all be operated by BAe Jetstream 41 equipment. SA Airlink is the sole operator on the domestic route, an O&D market of around 21,000 passengers per annum.

KENYA AIRWAYS LOOKING FOR CAPACITY GROWTH IN EUROPE

Kenya Airways plans to boost its network between Africa and Europe working with its SkyTeam alliance partners to secure improved access at London Heathrow. The African carrier currently offers nine weekly frequencies between Nairobi and London but has been unable to expand due to slot constraints at the UK facility. However, it is understood that it is now working with its alliance partners to make better use of their portfolio of slots there, which could enable it to boost frequencies. “We aim to increase our services to London to double-daily served by Boeing 777-200 as soon as slot availability permits at London Heathrow,” confirmed Dr Titus Naikuni, Group Managing Director and CEO, Kenya Airways. The airline currently holds a 29 per cent share of the 292,000 passenger O&D market. Alongside its London route, Kenya Airways is also upgrading its Amsterdam service with a Boeing 777-300 replacing a B767-300 on its link from Nairobi, according to Dr Naikuni. This will provide a further 742 weekly seats between the two destinations, a 49 per cent increase in capacity. Earlier this year, the airline inaugurated a three-times weekly service to Rome and also serves the French capital Paris four-times weekly.

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