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.
Our data analysis shows that bi-directional O&D demand between Nigeria and India has seen an average annual growth of 25.3 per cent over the past ten years as traffic has more than trebled from around 46,000 passengers in 2004 to just under 150,000 in 2013.
flydubai will offer a twice weekly service between Dubai and Kandahar from July 25, 2014 and a three times weekly offering between Dubai and Aden from August 1, 2014.
The start-up carrier now plans offer up to ten daily flights between Johannesburg and Cape Town using two Boeing 737-400s from the final quarter of this year, with a formal start date, schedule information due to be confirmed in the coming months as reservations are opened.
During the 2014/2015 winter schedule from October 26, 2014 until March 28, 2015, Air France will deploy the A380 on three weekly rotations between its Paris hub and Abdijan.
The start-up inaugurated operations on the morning of April 1, 2014 initially offering up to six daily rotations between Nairobi and Mombasa, a double daily link between the capital and Kisumu and a ten times weekly service between Nairobi and Eldoret.
The airline, backed by businessman Ovidiu Tender, who runs a group of geological, oil and gas exploration and tourism companies, recently revealed plans to launch its own scheduled operations in Romania under the Fly Romania operational brand and this African contract further diversifies and expands its product offering.
Bordered by Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia, Djibouti has an economy that is largely concentrated in the service sector and the country has limited international air services – a void Qatar Airways hopes to fill with its expanding international network of routes via its Doha hub.
