EMIRATES SETS REVISED LAUNCH DATE FOR BAGHDAD SERVICE
Emirates Airline has confirmed that it will now inaugurate its proposed Dubai – Baghdad route in November, 16 months later than originally planned. The airline had originally scheduled a July 2010 launch date for its three times weekly service, however, low demand resulted in it cancelling the route before it started. The airline now confirms that it will introduce a four times weekly flight from November 13 using an Airbus A330-200. Emirates already operates flights to the Iraqi city of Basra, a route it carried an estimated 5,000 O&D passengers in its first two months of operation. “Our launch into Basra, Iraq in February this year has been a resounding success with flights operating in both directions at capacity. In the four months since we began operations to Iraq thousands of passengers have flown with Emirates between Basra and Dubai seeing the route perform well above expectations,” said Sheikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group. "Baghdad is a strategically important destination for Emirates. Its geographical location, coupled with the fact that few international carriers operate there, makes it the perfect destination for us to tap into and drive revenue from," he added. Emirates’ expects the passenger mix travelling in and out of Iraq to come from a variety of sources, with a significant skew towards industry and Government personnel. The construction, telecommunications and oil sectors are expected to make up three of the largest industry segments.
BELAVIA TO INTRODUCE GRODNO – KALINIGRAD CONNECTION
Belarusian flag carrier Belavia is to inaugurate flights to the Russian Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad from Grodno, only its second scheduled link outside of the country’s capital, Minsk. The city is located on the Neman River and is close to the border with Lithuania and Poland. There are currently no scheduled links from the small airport. Belavia plans to operate two flights per week between June 21 and September 3, using a Bombardier CRJ200. Belavia has also recently introduced a twice weekly seasonal link to Kaliningrad from Brest, a city close to the border with Poland at the confluence of the Western Bug and Mukhavets rivers, while it also offers ten flights per week from Minsk, a route on which it carried an estimated 23,000 O&D passengers in the past year. The Belarusian carrier has also signed a codeshare arrangement with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, where the Dutch carrier’s ‘KL’ code will also appear on its own five times weekly flights between Minsk and Amsterdam. Under the terms of the deal these ‘KL’ coded flights are not for general sale and will only be available to connecting passengers flying via Amsterdam Schiphol.
KUWAIT AIRWAYS CUTS DAMASCUS FLIGHTS
Kuwait Airways has reduced the frequency of its Kuwait City – Damascus route from a daily to a four times weekly schedule. The carrier competes with Jazeera Airways and Syrian Air on the route and has actually seen its share of the market increase by around six per cent in the last year but at the expense of yields, which fell by around eight per cent during this same period. It carried an estimated 80,000 passengers in the last 12 months. Its main rival has been Jazeera Airways. The low-cost carrier offers 12 flights per week with a twice daily service on some days, carrying an estimated 107,000 O&D passengers and accounting for 41 per cent of the total 262,000 passenger market. Syrian Air offers six flights per week and handled around 34,000 passengers in the past year. The route also used to be served by Wataniya Airways but the carrier suspended operations earlier this year.
TURKISH AIRLINES TO OPEN FLIGHT TO KABUL
Turkish Airlines (THY) is to launch services between Istanbul and the Afghanistan capital Kabul. The carrier is to operate a three times weekly link using a Boeing 737-800 from July 9. THY will be the first Star Alliance member to provide flights to the city, although it will face direct competition from Ariana Afghan Airlines which offers two flights per week. An estimated 148,000 O&D passengers travelled between Europe and Afghanistan with 16,000 travelling between Istanbul and Kabul. THY will be the first European carrier to offer direct links to the Afghanistan capital, an under-served market with high growth potential. The new link will bring commercial opportunity for Afghanistan’s well known traditional industries such as carpets and gems, and the industrial sectors namely construction and engineering, IT/telecommunications, transportation and mining, to develop. In addition it will support the many international corporations and organisations working on several multi-million development projects in the country, as well as the vast Afghan community living and working in the Middle East, North America, Europe and Asia.
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