The new route will launch from July 28, 2014 and will be flown on a five times weekly basis using a two-class Airbus A330-200 configured with 30 Premier Business Class seats and 187 Economy Class seats.
IATA’s director general and chief executive officer, Tony Tyler, likens aviation taxes to “killing the goose that lays the golden egg,” warning that eight million jobs in Africa depend on aviation, an industry that also delivers an $80.5 billion contribution to the African economy.
Afriqiyah Airways and Libyan Airlines have suspended plans for a merger as the two flag carriers' home market struggles to contain a simmering civil war as worsening violence across the North African country steadily encroaches into the aviation sector in 2014.
The confirmation of the Boeing order is part of the Mozambique flag-carrier and the country's Ministry of Transport and Communication's long-term strategy to increase flight frequency and provide greater route flexibility to and from the southern African nation.
In its latest annual results the carrier posted a net profit of €7.3 million, while the wider Air Mauritius Group posted a €8.5 million profit. The positive results mark the return to profit of the national airline over a full financial year after two consecutive loss making years.
In 2004, airlines offered 7.7 million seats from Lisbon Airport but this rose to just under ten million seats last year, a 27.7 per cent rise. This year, based on existing published schedules, the airport will surpass the ten million figure for the first time with capacity set to rise 7.8 per cent.
It is understood that at this time no formal mandate has been made by the Democratic Republic of Congo CAA and Korongo Airlines is currently the only carrier that has suspended its domestic flights.
There has been a growing demand for air connectivity between China and the popular leisure destination with O&D demand rising massively over the past ten years from just 8,000 bi-directional passengers in 2004 to around 66,000 in 2013.
Alongside the point-to-point market, the expanded frequency will provide better connection options for travelers from the UK to a range of markets across West Africa, including Abidjan, Abuja, Cape Verde, Libreville, Malabo, Niamey, N’Djamena, Nouakchott, Ouagadougou and Yaoundé.
Etihad Cargo expects the service to carry large quantities of electronics and textiles to Entebbe, with primarily perishable goods destined for the Gulf region and Europe loaded for the return flight.
These two new routes adds to the carrier’s existing service to Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo, which has been operating since 2006 and further strengthen the airport's long-haul network and Marseille Provence’s position as the French airport with the most long-haul destinations away from Paris.
The airline says the decision to close flights to these two destinations from the end of September 2014 is due to the “sustained weak performance of both routes”.
It is very early days for the Fly Blue Crane project and details of its planned operations are vague, although unlike most other start-ups the suggestion is it will avoid ‘The Golden Triangle’ domestic network linking Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg and will instead focus on serving regional markets both with point-to-point flights and direct links to the major cities.
