Expanding Middle East carrier Qatar Airways is set to develop its activities in the African market with new flights to Ghana. The airline is understood to be currently in advanced discussions with airport authority in the country to establish the new links which are set to launch in 2012. Senior aviation officials from the continent confirmed to The HUB during the recent Routes Africa air services forum in Bamako, Mali that the airline is to offer flights from its Doha hub to Kotoka International Airport in Ghana, although it is not presently clear if these will be direct services or a through route combining one of its existing African destinations.
Qatar Airways currently operates 89 flights per week into Africa serving 13 destinations, ranging from Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia in the north to South Africa in the south. Later this year it will inaugurate flights to Entebbe in Uganda further boosting its activities in the East of the country. However, it currently only has limited links to Central or West Africa, with just a daily connection to Lagos in Nigeria.
Speaking exclusively to The HUB after collecting the Airport Marketing Award for the African region during the Routes Africa event, Doreen Owusu-Fianko, Managing Director of airport operator Ghana Airports Company Limited said she was confident that negotiations with Qatar Airways would soon be completed. “We are currently in discussions to bring the airline to Accra and are confident that we will soon reach an agreement although we have no precise operational plans that we can currently confirm,” she said.
As mentioned earlier, it is not clear if Qatar Airways will offer a direct service to Accra or will combine the destination with one of its existing flights until the market has matured further, most likely its Lagos service. Kotoka International Airport is already served from the Middle East by Emirates Airline which has a daily flight to its Dubai hub, but the airport operator has ambitious plans to expand its network.
“We want to develop as a hub and our geographical location means we are positioned to be able to offer links to every continent in the world. At the moment we are only missing network links in South America and the Caribbean and we are working hard to establish such a link within the next two years,” said Doreen Owusu-Fianko. “In the meantime we are happy with developing into new markets and hope to add up to four new airlines every year. TAP Portugal has recently inaugurated flights to Lisbon and we are confident that we will soon have regular links to Barcelona with Spanair alongside the planned Doha flight from Qatar Airways.”
Over the last six months, Qatar Airways has added eight new routes to its already burgeoning global network – Bucharest (Romania), Budapest (Hungary), Brussels (Belgium), Stuttgart (Germany), Aleppo (Syria), Shiraz (Iran), Venice (Italy) and Montreal (Canada). This week it has expanded in Saudi Arabia introducing a its fourth destination in the form of the holy city of Medina, operating four weekly flights; and it will also serve Kolkata from July 27; Bulgarian capital Sofia from September 14; Norwegian capital Oslo from October 5; Entebbe in Uganda from November 2; Azerbaijan capital, Baku from November 30; and the Georgian capital Tbilisi, also from November 30.
Read more stories from the Routes Africa event...
South African Airways to Launch Johannesburg Link in October
Qatar Airways Set to Expand into Ghana
Air Mali in Market for Turboprops for Domestic Growth
Accra Kotoka International Triumphs in Airport Marketing Awards
ASM Workshops Highlight Route Opportunities
Aviation in Bamako – Africa’s Fastest Growing City
Aviation in Mali – A Market Set For Growth
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