News From CIS and The Middle East

Richard Maslen March 31, 2011

MAHAN AIR ADDS SHIRAZ – KUALA LUMPUR SERVICE

Iranian carrier Mahan Air has this week launched flights from Shiraz to Kuala Lumpur. The twice weekly service is being operated by an Airbus A310. The carrier also operates flights to the Malaysian capital from Tehran on a three times weekly basis but temporarily suspended the service on April 1. Approximately 147,000 O&D passengers travelled between Iran and Malaysia in the year ending January 2011, with Mahan Air accounting for 14.7 per cent of this traffic; the second largest operator between the two countries after Iran Air. Meanwhile, Mahan Air is also launching flights from Tehran to the city’s second airport Sabiha Gökçen International. It will offer a twice weekly service on the link to the Turkish capital.

LOT MODIFIES UKRAINIAN NETWORK

LOT Polish Airlines is to open a new link between Warsaw and Donetsk, expanding its presence in the Ukrainian market. It already provides a daily links to Kiev Borispol, Lviv and Odessa from Frederic Chopin Airport in the Polish capital. The new service will be flown three times every week using a mix of Embraer 170 and 175 models from June 3. Meanwhile, in a further change to its network in the country, LOT will substitute the Boeing 737-500 it currently uses on flights to the western city of Lviv with a smaller ATR 42 until November. This is not due to demand changes but simply as a result of runway works at the airport. Around 149,000 O&D passengers travelled between Poland and Ukraine in the year ending January 2011, with more than 53 per cent using the flights of LOT.

MEA OFFERS LINK TO MEDINA

Middle East Airlines (MEA) has resumed a twice weekly service between Beirut and the Saudi Arabian city of Medina. The link will operate until August 25 and will fly via Jeddah on its return to Lebanon. MEA carried around 10,000 O&D passengers to Medina in 2010, a route also served by Saudi Arabian Airlines and Nas Air. Medina is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province. It is the second holiest city in Islam, the burial place of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad is home to the three oldest mosques in Islam, namely; Al-Masjid al-Nabawi, Quba Mosque and Masjid al-Qiblatain.

URAL AIRLINES ADDS FLIGHTS TO KIEV AND LARNACA

Russian carrier Ural Airlines has confirmed it will offer flights to both the Ukrainian capital Kiev and Larnaca, on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, this summer. Between April 29 and October 14 it will operate weekly flights on the Novosibirsk – Larnaca and Ekaterinburg – Kiev routes using an Airbus A320.

SAUDIA ENHANCES CARGO LINKS BETWEEN EUROPE AND AFRICA

Saudia Cargo, the dedicated freighter business of Saudi Arabian Airlines, is to boost frequencies on its link from Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International to Amsterdam Schiphol due to rising demand from forwarders. The airline operates a McDonnell Douglas MD-11F on the route three times every week, but from April will increase this to five flights per week. According to a representative of the company the expansion is primarily due to a growing demand for the transport of flowers. These flights continue from Amsterdam to the carrier’s main hub at Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport, with two rotations continuing on to Riyadh and three to Johannesburg.

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