Speaking to Routesonline on the sidelines of the World Routes network development forum, Makona confirmed that the resumption of long-haul flights from Harare is the main development target for the carrier and it seeks to work with the local tourism authority to put Zimbabwe back on the international route map.
In correspondence with Routesonline during the forum, founder and chief executive officer, Alpha Diallo confirmed that the carrier “will fly in West Africa” but its proposed network and “cities are not finalised yet”. The start-up is understood to be based at Gbessia International Airport in Conakry, the capital of the Republic of Guinea.
Gulf carrier Qatar Airways confirmed in February this year that it would introduce flights to this year’s World Routes host city as part of an expansion of its network in South Africa. The four times weekly service, as an extension of an expanded schedule between Doha and Johannesburg, will be launched from December 17, 2015, just three months after World Routes, providing an important new hub connection offering to the coastal city.
The expanding airline already operates into Zimbabwe from the Dar Es Salaam base of its original Tanzania business, but the arrival of the new aircraft represents a significant step forward in its activities in southern Africa. It will initially use the aircraft to launch domestic flights between Harare and Victoria Falls.
The Star Alliance member has been serving the Cameroon market since the early 1970s after first introducing flights to Douala in 1971 and has been offering uninterrupted service since 2003.
The new rules require that any child arriving in South Africa must carry an unabridged birth certificate, or have submitted this earlier when applying for a visa. The change has been introduced by the South African government as a security measure against child smuggling.
In recent months a number of international airlines have outlined plans to expand into the Durban market, although local officials remain tight-lipped on this subject until final contracts are agreed and formally signed.
In recent years the Province of KwaZulu-Natal has positioned Durban as a world-class African city, having successfully hosted high profile events like COP17, BRICS Summit, Top Gear, Volvo World Championships, MTV Awards and just last week the World Forestry Congress made its debut on the African continent. It was also recently announced as the host for 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Ahead of this year's World Routes forum, Routesonline is providing another look at our series of articles on the leading airlines and airports and most used aircraft types across regions of the world last year. Here we look closely at the airlines of Southern Africa and highlight the region's top performers.
Ahead of this year's World Routes forum, Routesonline is providing another look at our series of articles on the leading airlines and airports and most used aircraft types across regions of the world last year. Here we look closely at the airlines of Eastern Africa and highlight the region's top performers.
Ahead of this year's World Routes forum, Routesonline is providing another look at our series of articles on the leading airlines and airports and most used aircraft types across regions of the world last year. Here we look closely at the airlines of North Africa and highlight the region's top performers.
Ahead of this year's World Routes forum, Routesonline is providing another look at our series of articles on the leading airlines and airports and most used aircraft types across regions of the world last year. Here we look closely at the airports of Eastern Africa and highlight the region's top performers.
August has seen a number of start-up carriers taking shape across the world, including South African carrier, Fly Blue Crane, and Air Costa Rica which is set to launch later this year
The first UNWTO East Africa Tourism Development Forum gathered regional tourism leaders and stakeholders to identify opportunities to maximise sustainable tourism development through regional collaboration.
What are the world's longest scheduled air routes by distance and block time? As Emirates Airline reveals plans to launch a Dubai - Panama City route in February 2016, Routesonline investigates.
This winter, fastjet will add additional capacity on routes to Johannesburg, South Africa; Harare, Zimbabwe and its recently launched service to Lilongwe, Malawi this winter, as well as increasing its domestic offering to Kilimanjaro and Mwanza.
Flights were initially intended to commence operation in February, but this was delayed, and now the airline is planning to launch on September 2, 2015 from the Namibian capital.
Flights to Amman, Beirut, Chittagong, Doha, Kathmandu, Kuwait and Muscat will become available from DWC from October 25, 2015, while flights to these destinations from Dubai International will also remain available.
July has seen a number of start-up carriers taking shape across the world, including the proposed successor airline to the former national carrier of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo Airways, and Zimbabwe start-up, Rainbow Airlines.
Although the route is initially scheduled to be flown on a twice weekly basis, fastjet has already hinted that more capacity is expected to be added as demand increases. The airline has already opened reservations for the service with fares starting from $50 one-way, excluding airport and government taxes.
The low-cost airline currently has a fleet of five older 737-400 models and will use the 737-800s to support growth in existing markets and to support future network expansion. The additional capacity of the 737-800 versus the 737-400 of around 20 seats mean a like-for-like aircraft deployment switch will boost capacity by around 12.5 per cent.
The West African market will be served alongside the airline’s existing route between Dubai and Dakar, in Senegal, which is operated using an Airbus A340-300 configured with offers 12 First Class, 42 Business Class and 213 Economy Class seats. Bamako will be linked directly from Dubai, but return flights will operate via Dakar.
