An estimated 250,000 passengers a year are flying between India and Ethiopia with almost 90 per cent of the demand in the first half of 2015 taking advantage of Ethiopian Airlines’ pan-African network to connect via Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport.
Ryanair will launch flights from the city from November 1, 2016 with a twice daily link to the Spanish capital, Madrid, a daily service to Brussels Charleroi and London Stansted, a four times weekly link to Berlin and twice weekly flights to Fez, Malta and Warsaw Modlin.
The route, which departs from Dubai, will see an increased capacity due to a replacement of aircraft. This increase will help to meet the growing demand on the route into the African countries.
The latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer highlights that growth in advanced economy destinations (up five per cent) exceeded that of emerging economies (up four per cent) in 2015, boosted by the solid results of Europe (up five per cent). By region, Europe, the Americas and Asia and the Pacific all recorded around five per cent growth in international arrivals in 2015, while the Middle East increased by three per cent while Africa saw an estimated three per cent decrease, mostly due to weak results in North Africa, which accounts for over one third of arrivals in the region.
According to OAG schedule data, ANA has accounted for more than a quarter (25.1 per cent) of all 787 flights since the aircraft’s debut offering almost 30 million Dreamliner seats (29,435,351 as of January 13, 2016).
To date, passenger traffic between the major cities of Dar es Salaam and Nairobi, which have a combined population of over eight million people, has been limited by high air fares which we believe, have excluded large parts of the local population from air travel. The only alternative to flying is to undertake a long and difficult journey by road, which can take up to 12 hours.
Etihad currently operates five 787-9s serving the markets of Brisbane, Washington, Singapore and Zurich from its Abu Dhabi International Airport hub. The type will become the UAE national carrier’s flagship long-haul aircraft in the coming years with a further 66 aircraft due to be delivered.
South African low-cost carrier Mango will help launch a new Connecting Partner Model from global airline grouping Star Alliance as it seeks to further expand its network reach. The South African Airways (SAA) subsidiary will be the first ‘low-cost’ or ‘hybrid’ carrier to introduce its network into that of the wider grouping.
IATA projects that passenger numbers are expected to reach seven billion by 2034 with a 3.8 per cent average annual growth in demand (2014 baseline year). That is more than double the 3.3 billion who flew in 2014 and exactly twice as many as the 3.5 billion expected in 2015.
The new fastJet service will not only support local demand to/from Dar es Salaam but also provide new connection opportunities to the low-cost carrier’s international flights into Tanzania, significantly offering an alternate link to Johannesburg to support growing leisure demand from South African holidaymakers.
North African carrier Royal Air Maroc (RAM) is to further expand its long-haul network from next year with the launch of flights between its Mohammed V International Airport hub in Casablanca and Washington Dulles Airport in the United States and Rio de Janeiro’s Galeão International Airport in Brazil.
The new flight will bring additional capacity into a market now controlled by British Airways after Virgin Atlantic Airways ended its own non-stop flights earlier this year. Sabre data shows an annual O&D demand of over 375,000 two-way passengers between the UK and Cape Town (around 1,030 passengers per day).
The introduction of the two additional return flights increases to nearly 4,200 the total number of seats available to passengers travelling by Etihad between the UAE and Morocco each week and comes as the carrier prepares to celebrate ten years of operations into the North African country.
The UK-Nigeria market is currently served on a daily basis by Arik Air, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways. There is an O&D demand of an estimated 2,500 passengers a day between the UK and Nigeria before you even start looking at connection options, and this has grown at an average annual rate of 9.2 per cent since 2010.
Norwegian is known to be studying a number of new markets for growth as it starts planning for the arrival of its new 787-9s. Although further growth in the US is among the scenarios under consideration, a number of other markets are also under evaluation, including São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Delhi, Mumbai, Cape Town and Durban.
The return of Africa’s largest carrier to the southern city, its third destination in South Africa, can be directly linked to recent World Routes forums, and of course, the hosting of this year’s event in Durban.
The granting of the ASL clears the way for fastjet Kenya to commence the application process for an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) which, once received, will allow the airline to operate domestic flights within Kenya. However, it will remain a long, and arduous journey before the budget airline begins flights.
WATCH exclusive content from this year's World Routes Strategy Summit. Here we highlight the key factors that are holding back fastjet in in its ambition to develop a pan-African network from the 'Airline Challenges & Growth Concerns' panel session.
WATCH exclusive content from this year's World Routes Strategy Summit. Here we highlight a discussion on Open Skies in Africa and how work is progressing towards opening Africa's skies for Africa's airlines from the 'State of the Industry' panel session.
Durban will be Turkish Airlines’ third destination in South Africa after Johannesburg and Cape Town. The airline first introduced flights into the country with a three times weekly joint operation to Johannesburg and onward to Cape Town from its Istanbul Ataturk International Airport hub in September 2007 but has grown to offer a daily service on the route, currently flown using an Airbus A330.
Durban will be Turkish Airlines’ third destination in South Africa after Johannesburg and Cape Town. The airline first introduced flights into the country with a three times weekly joint operation to Johannesburg and onward to Cape Town from its Istanbul Ataturk International Airport hub in September 2007 but has grown to offer a daily service on the route, currently flown using an Airbus A330.
WATCH the World Routes Strategy Summit on stage interview between our Head of Content & Industry Relations, Michael Miller and Nico Bezuidenhout, Chief Executive Officer, Mango and up until very recently also acting Chief Executive Officer, South African Airways.
The new three-times weekly Lusaka – Durban link will see Proflight Zambia complement the existing operations of South African Airways Express on the international city pair and will open up an alternative schedule for travellers from Zambia to enjoy the sea, sporting and cultural events, shopping and business prospects across tha KwaZulu-Natal province.
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.
