South African-born Hendrik Du Preez talks about the potential for Qatar Airways in Africa. Thanks to the end of the blockade, many more opportunities are possible.
Administrators in charge of South Africa’s Comair believe there are “reasonable prospects” of saving the company. Routes looks at the airline group’s place in the market prior to the appointment of business rescue practitioners.
With the top ten carrying more than 60 million passengers between them, Routesonline counts down the largest African airlines and looks at their performance over the past 12 months.
The new airport will completely revolutionise not only travel for the residents of St Helena, but will boost tourism. Located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, more than 2,000 kilometres from the nearest major landmass. It is currently linked to the world by RMS St Helena which sails between the island and Cape Town, a five day adventure across, at times, rough seas, but which is due to retire from service in July.
The new airport will completely revolutionise travel to and from the island. At present, Saint Helena is accessible by a boat trip that takes around five days from Cape Town.
The construction of an international airport is a major development for the island. Long rumoured and discussed, the British Government finally announced its plan to construct the facility in March 2005 for completion in 2010. However, the financial crisis and delays with consultations meant that it was not until November 2011 that an agreement was reached with a South African contractor to build the international lifeline.
South African carrier Comair has been operating for over 70 years and has shown over the past two decades that you can successfully operate both a full service and budget operation in Africa, albeit under two very separate brands.
