At 07:58 local time on Saturday, June 1st, Qatar Airways’ inaugural flight from Doha arrived at N’Djili International Airport in Kinshasa, capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Operations will be carried out four times a week between Doha and Kinshasa together with Luanda, capital of Angola. According to our database, Qatar will fly using the 254-seat Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner jets.
Kinshasa becomes Qatar’s 29th destination in Africa.
Monday and Saturday
Thursday and Friday
The first Airbus A350-1000 from Africa was recently spotted in Toulouse
Ethiopian Airlines will be the first carrier on the continent to incorporate this aircraft, which will join the company in the short term with the registration ET-BAW. The airplane already has the Ethiopian livery, as shown in the following picture.
In July 2022, Ethiopian Airlines confirmed the order for 4 Airbus A350-1000s, adding to previous orders for Airbus A350-900s.
Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Mr. Mesfin Tasew said, in July 2022: “We are delighted over the upsizing of the A350-900 on order to the largest variant, A350-1000, that helps us stay ahead of the curve in technology. We are the technology leaders in the continent introducing the latest technology and fuel-efficient fleet into Africa. The A350-1000 is the best fit for our dense routes, and we believe that the upsizing will be instrumental in satisfying the increasing demand of customers in our vast global network across five continents. We will continue on keeping ourselves abreast of aviation technology advancements to enhance our service and fulfill customers’ demand.”
Emirates to start services to Madagascar from September 3rd
The airline will operate four weekly flights with Boeing 777-300(ER) planes between Dubai and Antananarivo, the country’s capital, with a stopover in Mahe (Seychelles) in both directions. With this schedule, Emirates will offer 1,440 seats per week to/from Madagascar.
“Madagascar has historically been underserved, despite growing appetite from travellers for authentic ecotourism experiences. Emirates understands the importance of offering customers efficient connectivity and premium travel experiences and we’re confident that this new service will have a positive impact on boosting Madagascar’s connectivity, offering more opportunities for travellers to discover the hidden gem that is Madagascar, in addition to opening new international business opportunities”, said Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer.
“The Malagasy’s government is spearheading efforts to grow its tourism sector by enticing more tourists to experience the island’s renowned biodiversity and natural attractions. Emirates is ready to support Madagascar’s tourism agenda by helping bring visitors from around its network. We thank the Malagasy’s government for their partnership and support in establishing this route and we look forward to welcoming passengers onboard soon”.
We review other highlights of the Africa and Middle East market in June
Air Algérie adds a second route to Barcelona.
Air Arabia Maroc will fly between Casablanca and Istanbul.
Air Côte d’Ivoire and its new international routes.
Air Sénégal resumed services to Barcelona, Marseille and Lyon.
EGYPTAIR to add two connections in Africa.
Etihad inaugurated operations between Abu Dhabi and Al-Qassim.
flyadeal began flights to Dubai World Central Airport.
flydubai will increase its services between Dubai and Warsaw (from 7 to 14 weekly).
Nesma continues to expand its network of destinations in Europe.
Nairobi, AirAsia X’s first connection in Africa.
Royal Air Maroc started a new domestic route in Morocco.
Sun D’Or International Airlines began flying to Kefalonia and Sitia from Tel Aviv.
Tassili Airlines launched services between Bechar and Oran (Algeria).
Oran Es Senia – Barcelona will be back on Air Algérie’s regular schedule.
Services will begin on July 4th and will be operated twice a week on Boeing 737-800s.
Thursday
Sunday
Air Algérie currently performs a daily frequency between Algiers and the Spanish city with the same airplanes.
Starting August 3rd, the company plans to launch services between Casablanca and Istanbul (IST). Operations, in line with its website, will run until September 14th, and will be offered as follows:
Tuesday/Wednesday
Saturday
Air Arabia Maroc has 11 Airbus A320-200s in its fleet, averaging 10.5 years old.
The airline is scheduled to commence services between Kuala Lumpur and Nairobi from November 15th, using Airbus A330-300 aircraft. These operations will soon be available for sale on the AirAsia X website.
Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
Kuala Lumpur – Nairobi will be AirAsiaX’s longest route.
Flights between Cairo and Istanbul (SAW) by Air Cairo began on June 6th.
The first service landed at Sabiha Gokcen airport at 14:02 local time from the Egyptian capital. Air Cairo started with one weekly operation, boosting to two since mid-June.
Thursday
Sunday
From July onwards, a flight per week (on Thursdays) is planned.
Côte d’Ivoire’s flag carrier announced several developments to its international routes from Abidjan, its main hub, as well as the launch of new connections.
These changes will begin in October.
Map by gcmap.com
For summer season, Air Sénégal restarted two routes to Europe, which will be available until mid-September.
Barcelona, Marseille and Lyon returned to the company’s schedule:
Marseille – Lyon · June 23rd
Thursday and Sunday
Barcelona · June 23rd
Tuesday and Sunday
Air Sénégal has 8 aircraft in its fleet, although not all are operational.
2 ATR 72, 2 A319-100, 2 A321-200 and 2 A330neo are part of the airline.
Djibouti and Mogadishu, new EGYPTAIR destinations.
The company will start operating on July 11th with the 154-seat Boeing 737-800, two weekly services.
Thursday and Saturday
Friday and Sunday
We review Emirates’ schedule on the Dubai – Mahe (Victoria) – Antananarivo route.
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday
Abidjan, Accra, Addis Ababa, Cairo, Cape Town, Casablanca, Conakry, Dakar, Dar-es-Salaam, Durban, Entebbe, Harare, Johannesburg, Luanda, Lusaka, Mahe Island (Victoria), Nairobi and Port Louis are the airline’s current destinations in Africa.
This is Ethiopian’s current fleet, which is composed of Airbus, Boeing and Dash aircraft.
Airbus A350-900: 20
Airbus A350-1000 (4 on order)
Boeing 737-700: 3
Boeing 737-800: 12
Boeing 737 MAX 8: 17
Boeing 767-300(ER): 1 (to be converted to freighter)
Boeing 767-300(F): 2
Boeing 777-200(LR): 6
Boeing 777-300(ER): 4
Boeing 777(F): 10
Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner: 19
Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner: 10
Dash 8: 31
Ethiopian Airlines has 135 planes in its fleet, with an average age of 8 years.
The carrier began regular operations between Abu Dhabi and Al-Qassim on June 24th. Etihad will have four flights a week under the following schedule, as seen in our database:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday
Etihad Airways’ routes in the United Arab Emirates – Saudi Arabia market
Map by gcmap.com
Al-Qassim (ELQ): 4 weekly · Airbus A320-200
Dammam (DMM): 21 weekly · A320/A321
Jeddah (JED): 28 weekly · A320/A321/789/781
Riyadh (RUH): 28 weekly · A320/A321
At 14:05 local time on Thursday, June 20th, flyadeal’s inaugural flight from Riyadh arrived at Dubai World Central Airport (DWC). The Saudi airline will offer four weekly services using Airbus A320neo aircraft.
Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday
Dubai (DXB/DWC) is flyadeal’s only destination in the United Arab Emirates. With respect to Dubai DWB, the company operates 28 flights per week to/from Riyadh.
Effective October, the carrier plans to increase its operations between Dubai and Warsaw, with the start of a second daily frequency.
flydubai performs services between the two cities on Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft with a capacity of 174 passengers.
Daily
Daily · new flight
Baku, Batumi, Belgrade, Bucharest, Budapest, Catania, Corfu, Dubrovnik, Istanbul (IST), Krakow, Ljubljana, Milan, Minsk, Mykonos, Naples, Olbia, Pisa, Poznań, Prague, Salzburg, Santorini, Sarajevo, Sofia, Tbilisi, Tirana, Tivat, Warsaw, Yerevan and Zagreb are the European destinations of flydubai.
Last June 12th, FlyEgypt began seasonal services between Hurghada and Yerevan, which will be carried out during summer 2024. The airline will offer until mid-September three weekly flights between the two cities.
Monday, Wednesday and Saturday
The carrier will commence scheduled operations between Cairo and Milan Malpensa from June 30th. According to our database, Nesma Airlines will have two services per week on this route with Airbus A320s.
Wednesday/Sunday
Düsseldorf, Munich and Skopje are part of the Egyptian airline’s network in Europe.
We review Qatar’s important route network from/to Doha in Africa:
Map by gcmap.com
Algeria
Algiers (ALG): 7 weekly · Airbus A330-300
Angola/Democratic Republic of the Congo
DOH – Luanda (LAD) – Kinshasa (FIH) – DOH: 2 weekly · Boeing 787-8
Democratic Republic of the Congo/Angola
DOH – Kinshasa (FIH) – Luanda (LAD) – DOH: 2 weekly · Boeing 787-8
Djibouti
Djibouti (JIB): 4 weekly · Airbus A320-200
Egypt
Alexandria (HBE): 7 weekly · Airbus A320-200
Cairo (CAI): 28 weekly · A332/A333/A359/77L/77W
Ethiopia
Ghana/Ivory Coast
DOH – Accra (ACC) – Abidjan (ABJ) – DOH: 2 weekly · Boeing 787-8
Ivory Coast/Ghana
DOH – Abidjan (ABJ) – Accra (ACC) – DOH: 2 weekly · Boeing 787-8
Kenya
Nairobi (NBO): 14 weekly · A351/77L/77W
Morocco
Casablanca (CMN): 7 weekly · Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner
Marrakesh (RAK) via CMN: 7 weekly · Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner
Nigeria
Abuja (ABV): 7 weekly · Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner
Kano (KAN) via ABV: 4 weekly · Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner
Lagos (LOS): 14 weekly · A359/789
Port Harcourt (PHC) via ABV: 3 weekly · Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner
Seychelles
Victoria (SEZ): 7 weekly · Boeing 777-200(LR)
Somalia
Mogadishu (MGQ) via JIB: 4 weekly · Airbus A320-200
South Africa
South Africa/Mozambique
DOH – Durban (DUR) – Maputo (MPM) – DOH: 5 weekly · Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner
Tanzania
Tunisia
Tunis (TUN): 10 weekly · Airbus A330-300
Uganda
Entebbe (EBB): 7 weekly · Airbus A330-200
Zambia
Lusaka (LUN): 7 weekly · Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner
Zimbabwe
Harare (HRE) via LUN: 7 weekly · Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner
The Moroccan carrier plans to add a new domestic route starting July 10th. Royal Air Maroc will operate using its 96-seat Embraer 190s:
Wednesday and Friday
Currently, Binter Canarias and Royal Air Maroc are the airlines with operations in El Aaiun. The Spanish company has flights to Gran Canaria, while Royal Air Maroc operates to other cities in Morocco.
Brussels, Errachidia, Jeddah, Madrid, Marseille, Paris Orly and Tan Tan are the destinations of Royal Air Maroc to/from Rabat.
As of June 1st, the company expanded its flight frequency on the Kigali – Brazzaville – Douala route from three to four weekly operations.
RwandAir operates on Boeing 737-800s with a capacity of 154 passengers.
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday
From/to Kigali, Accra, Brazzaville, Bujumbura, Dar-es-Salaam, Doha, Douala, Dubai, Entebbe, Harare, Johannesburg, Kamembe, Lagos, Libreville, London LHR, Lusaka, Nairobi and Paris CDG are its current routes.
Regarding markets, RwandAir operates to Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, France, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Qatar, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Kefalonia and Sitia, new routes in Greece for Sun D’Or International Airlines, a subsidiary of El Al Israel Airlines.
The flights began in early June and will be operated to/from Tel Aviv with Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
Map by gcmap.com
Routes between Israel and Greece (El Al and Sun D’Or)
Athens (ATH): 16 weekly · 738/739
Patras (GPA): 1 weekly · Boeing 737-800
Rhodes (RHO): 6 weekly · Boeing 737-800
Santorini (JTR): 1 weekly · Boeing 737-800
Thessaloniki (SKG): 7 weekly · Boeing 737-800
Last June 9th, Tassili Airlines inaugurated a new connection in Algeria.
The carrier will offer a weekly frequency between Oran and Bechar by Dash 8 aircraft configured for 74 passengers.
Sunday
Tassili Airlines routes from/to Bechar and Oran
Map by gcmap.com
Bechar
Algiers (ALG): 2 weekly · Dash 8
Oran (ORN): 2 weekly · Dash 8
Oran
Adrar (AZR): 2 weekly · Dash 8
Algiers (ALG): 4 weekly · 738/Dash 8
Bechar (CBH): 2 weekly · Dash 8
Algiers is the main hub for Tassili Airlines, serving flights to Adrar, Bechar, Constantine, El Oued, In Salah and Oran in Algeria, as well as to Nantes, Paris CDG and Strasbourg in France.
flynas, flyadeal, Middle East Airlines and flydubai added new aircraft from the factory in this market during June.
AircraftAirlineRegistrationFerry flightDate
Airbus A320-251NflynasHZ-NS85TSN-DEL-RUHJune 5th
Airbus A320-251NflyadealHZ-FBGTLS-JEDJune 10th
Airbus A321-271NXMEAOD-M10XFW-BEYJune 14th
Boeing 737 MAX 8flydubaiA6-FQDBFI-SNNSNN-DXBJune 20thJune 22nd
Other reports we have published:
Cover photo: M. Azizul Islam – JetPhotos (Doha, Qatar).