News From Africa

Richard Maslen April 28, 2011

TAAG ANGOLA LINKS LUANDA TO PORTO

TAAG Angola is to increase flights between Portugal and Angola with a new twice weekly link between Luanda and Porto. The flight will be launched on July 1 and will bring the carrier’s weekly frequencies between the two countries to nine, alongside its daily Luanda – Lisbon – Luanda service. TAAG Angola plans to use a Boeing 777-200ER on the link. An estimated 58,000 O&D passengers already travel between the two destinations on indirect services, the majority (94 per cent) routing via Lisbon on the flights of TAP Portugal and TAAG Angola. Around 4,500 of these are flying in premium cabins - First or Business - while 13,000 more are purchasing Full Economy Class tickets, ensuring high yields for the operating airlines. The yields are not as strong as TAAG Angola’s other route into Portugal though, with the 418,000 O&D passengers travelling between Luanda and Lisbon paying an average of $1,060 each way. TAAG Angola dominates this route, handling over two thirds of the traffic.

TAP PORTUGAL OPENS LINK TO GHANA

TAP Portugal continues to expand its network in Africa with confirmation that it will inaugurate a four times weekly service between Lisbon and the Ghanaian capital Accra. Earlier this year the airline revealed plans to introduce a three times link to Bamako, Mali, the host of this year’s Routes Africa regional event, from June 5. The new service will be introduced from July 2 and will be operated using an Airbus A320. The Portuguese capital will be the sixth European city to have direct links to Accra’s Kotoka International Airport. TAP’s Star Alliance partners Brussels Airlines and Lufthansa offer links from Brussels and Frankfurt, Alitalia has flights from Rome, KLM from Amsterdam, while British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways both serve the facility from London. Approximately 549,000 O&D passengers travelled between Ghana and Europe in the past year, an 8.0% growth on the previous 12 month period.

FLY540 TO OFFER NAIROBI – JUBA LINK

African low-Cost carrier Fly540 is to inaugurate flights between Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Juba in southern Sudan. The flight will commence in May on a six times weekly frequency, increasing to daily in the future. “Entrepreneurs and investors are turning to the Southern Sudan and there are growing trade links with Kenya which are driving demand for more flights between Nairobi and Juba,” said Nixon Ooko, Operations Director, Fly540. “We anticipate introducing a daily schedule in the near future.” Fly540 already offers links from the Kenyan capital to Bujumbura, Dar Es Salaam, Entebbe, Eldoret, Kilimanjaro, Kisumu, Kitale, Lamu, Malindi, Mombasa, Mwanza and Wajir, adding flights to Angola earlier this year. Alongside the Juba service it plans to start flights to Ghana in June. These new services will be operated using Bombardier CRJ200s a type that has been welcomed by travellers. “These 50-seater twin jet aircraft have proved very popular with our passengers on services to destinations in Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda," said Nixon Ooko.

SIERRA LEONE MAY OPEN DOMESTIC SKIES TO SAA

A senior government official in Sierra Leone has said that South African Airways (SAA) may be awarded a licence to manage and operate domestic air services within the country. The information follows just weeks after a reported deal with Arik Air of Nigeria to establish Leone Airways to add international services within the continent and into Europe. The country’s Trade and Industry Minister, Richard Konteh, revealed the plan during a ten-day visit to South Africa to discuss enhancing links and investment in Sierra Leone. "We can encourage SAA or any other airline to consider using the opportunities that we could make available in terms of our space for flights for them to able to fly around," he told local journalists. "If SAA so desires [to establish direct flights] we can engage." There are currently no direct links from Sierra Leone to South Africa and there is only a limited demand. In the past year an estimated 6,600 O&D passengers travelled between the two countries, but there is potential to establish links with key trading partners within Africa.

AIR AUSTRAL ADJUSTS PLANNED LINKS FROM DZAOUDZI

Air Austral is to introduce direct flights from Dzaoudzi to Marseille alongside its previously announced flights to Paris CDG. The commune of Dzaoudzi is the largest habited area on the small island of Petite-Terre and former capital of Mayotte, an Indian Ocean archipelago located in the Mozambique Channel between northwestern Madagascar and northeastern Mozambique. The carrier is planning to offer three flights per week from Dzaoudzi Pamandzi International Airport from October 31 following the delivery of its Boeing 777-200LRs, but has confirmed that one flight will route via Marseille on its westbound leg. It currently offers a daily link to Dzaoudzi from its Reunion base with onward connections throughout its network. There are currently only limited scheduled links from Dzaoudzi outside of the region, with Kenya Airways offering a three times weekly link to Nairobi and African Express Airways a weekly rotation to the Kenyan capital. However, Corsairfly does already offer a twice weekly link to Paris Orly and has served Marseilles in the past. An estimated 34,700 O&D passengers travelled between Mayotte and France in the past year. Around 65 per cent of these used the non-stop Corsairfly flight with the remainder flying via other markets.