South African Airways will inaugurate its regular flights between Johannesburg and Perth on April 28th. The airline will operate this route three times a week with Airbus A340-300 aircraft, configured for 253 passengers.
Perth will become SAA’s second destination out of Africa, and the third intercontinental route. In addition to the Australian city, South African offers flights to Sao Paulo, Brazil.
As the company reports in a press release, South African Airways’ operations between Johannesburg and Perth will return after a four-year suspension.
Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday
- SA 280 Johannesburg JNB 20:55 · 12:20+1 PER Perth
Monday, Wednesday and Friday
- SA 281 Perth PER 23:50 · 04:45+1 JNB Johannesburg
Emirates’ first Airbus A350-900 was recently spotted at Toulouse airport. The airline has an order for 65 A350s, with the first scheduled to enter service in August.
The registration of this aircraft will be A6-EXA.
Currently, the company’s fleet consists of Airbus A380-800, Boeing 777(F), Boeing 777-200(LR) and Boeing 777-300(ER). To read more about Emirates’ development in Dubai, its main hub, click here.
Always in the quest to try new things and offer images that are a little different!
Have you noticed the little novelty in this photo? 😏😍#avgeek #airbus #planespotting pic.twitter.com/N2OkmszGme— Robin HARDY (@robin_hrdy) March 27, 2024
Following the incident involving its only McDonnell Douglas MD-82 in Lagos on April 23rd, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority announced the suspension of Dana Air’s Air Operator Certificate (AOC) for a safety and economic audit.
The suspension took effect on Wednesday, April 24th at 23:59 local time.
Dana Air has 7 airplanes in its fleet (2 Boeing 737-500, 1 MD-82 and 4 MD-83).
We review other new developments in the Africa/Middle East market in April:
- Air Cairo adds another Airbus A320.
- Air Côte d’Ivoire takes delivery of its third Airbus A319-100.
- Brussels Airlines increases flights to Sierra Leone and Liberia.
- Camair-Co announces three new routes.
- Emirates resumed operations between Dubai and Riyadh with Airbus A380s.
- flydubai adds connections to Saudi Arabia.
- Norse Atlantic UK will fly between London and Cape Town.
- Oman Air increases frequencies on the Muscat – Lucknow route.
- Saudia will operate between Jeddah and Abuja.
- Transavia will open its second route from/to Dubai.
- Warsaw, Ethiopian Airlines’ new scheduled service.
Air Cairo
The airline will incorporate in the short term a “new” Airbus A320-200.
According to Skyliner-Aviation, the aircraft, ex Alaska Airlines, is currently in Miami Opa Locka undergoing final preparations prior to its incorporation to Air Cairo.
This Airbus A320 will soon receive the registration SU-BVQ, as it has the N641VA registry, which it used while operating for Alaska.
Air Cairo will reach 11 Airbus A320-200s in its fleet (SU-BPU, SU-BPV, SU-BPW, SU-BPX, SU-BPT, SU-BUJ, SU-BUU, SU-BUV, SU-BUW, SU-BVP and SU-BVQ).
In addition, the company has 14 A320neo, which average 2 years old.
Air Côte d’Ivoire
TU-TRF, the registration of Air Côte d’Ivoire’s new Airbus A319.
The plane is 8 years old and will shortly begin services. At present, the A319 is in Johannesburg after arriving from Marana via San Juan (Puerto Rico), Dakar and Pointe Noire.
Air Côte d’Ivoire fleet
Airbus A319
- TU-TRF · 8 years
- TU-TSY · 16 years
- TU-TSZ · 16 years
Airbus A320
- TU-TSV · 7 years
- TU-TSW · 7 years
- TU-TSX · 3.5 years
Dash 8
- TU-TSI · 8.5 years
- TU-TSK · 10 years
- TU-TSL · 9.5 years
- TU-TSQ · 8 years
Between 2016 and 2023, the Airbus A319 TU-TRF operated for Avianca with the registry N751AV.
Airlink
Last April 15th, Airlink’s Embraer 195AR, registration ZS-YDF, entered service.
This airplane had been incorporated by the African company in November 2023, after being inactive for almost four years after its withdrawal from Saratov Airlines, a Russian carrier.
Airlink has six Embraer 195s, five of which are active. The one registered as ZS-YDG has been grounded at Johannesburg airport since October 2023.
Brussels Airlines
The airline will add frequencies on the Brussels – Freetown (Sierra Leone) – Monrovia (Liberia) – Brussels route as of August 20th.
As can be seen on its website, Brussels Airlines will expand from three to four flights per week.
Tuesday, Friday and Sunday
- SN 241/45 Brussels BRU 12:10 · 17:00 FNA Freetown
- SN 241/45 Freetown FNA 18:15 · 19:20 ROB Monrovia
- SN 241/45 Monrovia ROB 20:40 · 05:15+1 BRU Brussels
It will add a service on Mondays.
The four weekly will be until September 3rd, returning to the current schedule. In late October, it will increase again to 4.
Brussels Airlines routes to/from Africa
Angola/Democratic Republic of the Congo
Benin/Ivory Coast
Burkina Faso/Ivory Coast
- BRU – Ouagadougou (OUA) – Abidjan (ABJ) – BRU: 4 weekly · Airbus A330-300
Burundi/Uganda
Cameroon
Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Kinshasa (FIH): 5 weekly · Airbus A330-300
Gambia
- Banjul (BJL) via DSS: 4 weekly · Airbus A330-300
Ghana
- Accra (ACC): 4 weekly · Airbus A330-300
Guinea
- Conakry (CKY) via DSS: 3 weekly · Airbus A330-300
Ivory Coast/Benin
Ivory Coast/Ghana
Rwanda/Uganda
Senegal
- Dakar (DSS): 7 weekly · Airbus A330-300
Sierra Leone/Liberia
Togo
- Lome (LFW) via ACC: 4 weekly · Airbus A330-300
Camair-Co
During May, the Cameroonian carrier will launch three new routes from/to Douala airport, its main base.
These connections will be Brazzaville, Cotonou, Libreville and Pointe Noire, with the following schedule:
Cotonou · May 13th
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday
- QC 320 Douala DLA 19:30 · 21:00 COO Cotonou
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday
- QC 321 Cotonou COO 08:30 · 10:00 DLA Douala
Libreville and Pointe Noire · May 13th
Monday, Thursday and Saturday
- QC 306 Douala DLA 11:00 · 12:00 LBV Libreville
- QC 306 Libreville LBV 12:45 · 14:20 PNR Pointe Noire
- QC 307 Pointe Noire PNR 15:00 · 16:35 LBV Libreville
- QC 307 Libreville LBV 17:20 · 18:20 DOU Douala
Brazzaville · May 28th
Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday
- QC 310 Douala DLA 11:30 · 13:20 BZV Brazzaville
- QC 311 Brazzaville BZV 15:30 · 17:20 DLA Douala
Flights to Brazzaville and Cotonou will be operated by Boeing 737-700s, and those to Libreville and Pointe Noire using Embraer 175s.
Emirates
The airline resumed services with Airbus A380 aircraft between Dubai and Riyadh last April 1st.
From the current three daily frequencies, Emirates will operate one of them using these aircraft, while the other two will be on Boeing 777-300s.
Airbus A380-800
- EK 817 Dubai DXB 16:55 · 18:00 RUH Riyadh
- EK 818 Riyadh RUH 20:00 · 23:15 DXB Dubai
Boeing 777
- EK 815 Dubai DXB 01:25 · 02:25 RUH Riyadh
- EK 816 Riyadh RUH 03:55 · 07:00 DXB Dubai
- EK 819 Dubai DXB 07:10 · 08:05 RUH Riyadh
- EK 820 Riyadh RUH 09:40 · 12:35 DXB Dubai
Emirates’ routes to/from Saudi Arabia
- Dammam (DMM): 22 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER)
- Jeddah (JED): 21 weekly · Airbus A380
- Medina (MED): 7 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER)
- Riyadh (RUH): 21 weekly · A380/77W
The last Emirates flights between Dubai and Riyadh, with Airbus A380-800s, had been in 2020.
Ethiopian
Warsaw, Ethiopian Airlines’ new connection in Europe.
The company will begin operations in July, and will be the only one to operate from/to Addis Ababa.
In accordance with its website, Ethiopian will offer four services a week on Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft under this schedule:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
- ET 764 Addis Ababa ADD 23:35 · 05:05+1 ATH Athens
- ET 764 Athens ATH 06:05 · 08:05 WAW Warsaw (+1 day)
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
- ET 765 Warsaw WAW 21:00 · 00:40+1 ATH Athens
- ET 765 Athens ATH 01:40 · 06:55 ADD Addis Ababa (+1 day)
Athens, Brussels, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Geneva, Istanbul, London, Madrid, Manchester, Marseille, Milan, Oslo, Paris, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna and Zurich are Ethiopian Airlines’ current connections in the European continent.
Etihad
Effective June 25th, Etihad schedules to launch flights between Abu Dhabi and Bali (Denpasar). The carrier will offer four weekly operations with the 290-seat Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday
- EY 476 Abu Dhabi AUH 22:25 · 11:35+1 DPS Denpasar
Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
- EY 477 Denpasar DPS 18:45 · 23:45 AUH Abu Dhabi
As for other Indonesian cities, Etihad operates 11 services per week between Abu Dhabi and Jakarta on Boeing 777-300(ER) and Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner aircraft.
In addition, Etihad Airways’ first Airbus A321NX was recently spotted. The plane, which currently has the registration 2-AECC, will soon join the airline.
flydubai
Between April 18th and the 22nd, flydubai inaugurated two new connections in the Dubai – Saudi Arabia market, bringing the carrier’s total number of routes to 18.
Operations will be performed on 186-seat Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets.
Red Sea Project · April 18th
Thursday and Sunday
- FZ 927 Dubai DXB 10:50/11:10 · 13:00/13:20 RSI Red Sea Project
- FZ 928 Red Sea Project RSI 14:00/14:20 · 18:00/18:20 DXB Dubai
Sakaka · April 22nd
Monday and Thursday
- FZ 913 Dubai DXB 11:20 · 13:00 AJF Sakaka
- FZ 914 Sakaka AJF 14:00 · 17:45 DXB Dubai
flydubai routes between DXB and Saudi Arabia
- Abha (AHB): 7 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8
- Al Ula (ULH): 3 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8
- Al-Qassim (ELQ): 7 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8
- Dammam (DMM): 28 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8
- Ha’il (HAS): 4 weekly · 738/7M8
- Hofuf Al-Ahsa (HOF): 3 weekly · Boeing 737-800
- Jeddah (JED): 21 weekly · 738/7M8
- Jizan (GIZ): 4 weekly · Boeing 737-800
- Medina (MED): 14 weekly · 738/7M8
- Najran (EAM): 3 weekly · 738/7M8
- Neom Bay (NUM): 3 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8
- Qaisumah (AQI): 2 weekly · Boeing 737-800
- Red Sea (RSI): 2 weekly · 738/7M8
- Riyadh (RUH): 35 weekly · 738/7M8
- Sakaka (AJF): 2 weekly · 738/7M8
- Tabuk (TUU): 14 weekly · 738/7M8
- Taif (TIF): 4 weekly · 738/7M8
- Yanbu (YNB): 3 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8
Fly Lili
The Romanian-based charter airline will launch three seasonal routes to Africa starting in June.
According to its website, Fly Lili will operate with its Airbus A320-200s configured for 180 passengers.
Egypt
- Bucharest (BBU) – Sharm el-Sheikh (SSH): 1 weekly
- Cluj (CLJ) – Hurghada (HRG): 1 weekly
Tunisia
Jordan Aviation
Last March 30th, the company inaugurated flights between Amman and Moscow Domodedovo. In line with our database, Jordan Aviation will have two weekly services with the 176-seat Airbus A320-200 jets.
Saturday
- R5 795 Amman AMM 10:00 · 15:15 DME Moscow
- R5 796 Moscow DME 16:00 · 21:00 AMM Amman
Furthermore, Kuwait City will enter the carrier’s regular network effective May 2nd.
Jordan Aviation will fly to/from Amman as follows:
Saturday/Wednesday
- R5 621 Amman AMM 17:30/17:45 · 19:50/20:05 KWI Kuwait City
- R5 622 Kuwait City KWI 20:50/21:05 · 23:05/23:20 AMM Amman
Norse Atlantic UK
The airline announced from October 28th it will commence operations between London and Cape Town.
Norse Atlantic UK will serve this route three times a week with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, in accordance to its website.
Monday, Wednesday and Saturday
- Z0 795 London LGW 20:00 · 09:30+1 CPT Cape Town
Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday
- Z0 796 Cape Town CPT 11:45 · 21:35 LGW London
Routes between the UK and South Africa
Cape Town
- London (LHR): 7 weekly · Airbus A350-1000 (British)
Johannesburg
- London (LHR): 14 weekly · A388/77W (British)
- London (LHR): 7 weekly · Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner (Virgin)
Earlier this month, Norse confirmed the opening of a new destination in the United States. Services to Las Vegas will begin on September 12th, and for further information you can click on this link.
Oman Air
More flights to Lucknow, India.
As can be seen in our database, Oman Air increased its flights between Muscat and Lucknow in early April, reaching ten weekly.
Daily
- WY 261 Muscat MCT 09:20 · 14:15 LKO Lucknow
- WY 262 Lucknow LKO 15:15 · 17:25 MCT Muscat
Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
- WY 265 Muscat MCT 02:50 · 07:45 LKO Lucknow
- WY 266 Lucknow LKO 09:20 · 11:30 MCT Muscat
Previously, it had a daily frequency.
Air India Express and SalamAir, in addition to Oman Air, operate between the two cities, with seven and three services per week, respectively.
Qatar
Beginning June 1st, Qatar Airways will inaugurate a new destination in Africa.
The company will offer four weekly flights on a combined route with Luanda (Angola) using Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft seating 254 passengers.
Monday and Saturday
- QR 1491 Doha DOH 02:45 · 08:10 FIH Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
- QR 1491 Kinshasa FIH 09:40 · 10:55 LAD Luanda
- QR 1491 Luanda LAD 12:25 · 22:50 DOH Doha
Thursday and Friday
- QR 1489 Doha DOH 09:20 · 15:40 LAD Luanda
- QR 1489 Luanda LAD 17:10 · 18:25 FIH Kinshasa
- QR 1489 Kinshasa FIH 19:55 · 05:45+1 DOH Doha
Additionally, Qatar will boost from one to four operations a week to Luanda.
Saudia
Effective May 11th, Abuja, Nigeria, will join Saudia’s regular schedule.
Operations will be conducted three weekly with Boeing 777-300(ER) aircraft, under the following schedule:
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
- SV 403 Jeddah JED 08:00 · 12:00 ABV Abuja
- SV 404 Abuja ABV 13:25 · 21:30 JED Jeddah
Kano is Saudi Arabian Airlines’ only current destination in Nigeria.
Serve Air Cargo
The cargo airline of the Democratic Republic of the Congo confirmed the addition of its second Boeing 737-800(F). At the moment, the nearly 22-year-old aircraft has the registration N157TS.
On April 17th, as can be seen in our database, the Boeing 737 arrived in Kinshasa from Dothan (DHT) via Espargos.
South African
We review South African’s routes from Cape Town and Johannesburg.
Cape Town
South Africa
- Johannesburg (JNB): 54 weekly · A320/A333/733/738
Brazil
- Sao Paulo (GRU): 2 weekly · Airbus A330-300
Johannesburg
Australia
- Perth (PER): 3 weekly · Airbus A340-300 (effective April 28th)
Brazil
- Sao Paulo (GRU): 2 weekly · Airbus A330-300
Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Kinshasa (FIH): 3 weekly · Airbus A320-200
Ghana
- Accra (ACC): 3 weekly · Airbus A340-300
Ivory Coast
- Abidjan (ABJ) via ACC: 3 weekly · Airbus A340-300
Mauritius
- Port Louis (MRU): 7 weekly · A320/A333/A343
Namibia
- Windhoek (WDH): 14 weekly · Airbus A320-200
Nigeria
- Lagos (LOS): 3 weekly · Airbus A330-300
South Africa
- Cape Town (CPT): 54 weekly · A320/A333/733/738
- Durban (DUR): 27 weekly · A320/733
- Port Elizabeth (PLZ): 13 weekly · Airbus A320/733
Zambia
- Lusaka (LUN): 7 weekly · Airbus A320-200
Zimbabwe
- Harare (HRE): 10 weekly · Airbus A320-200
- Victoria Falls (VFA): 7 weekly · Airbus A320-200
Transavia
The company will begin operating flights between Toulouse and Dubai starting October 27th. These services, which are already on sale, will be carried out twice a week with Boeing 737-800s.
Monday and Friday
- TO 8097 Dubai DXB 17:00 · 23:45 TLS Toulouse (via ATH)
Tuesday and Saturday
- TO 8096 Toulouse TLS 06:35 · 16:55 DXB Dubai
Currently, from/to Toulouse-Blagnac airport, the French airline has only one route (TLS-Brest on Boeing 737-800 aircraft).
Four new airplanes just out of the factory were incorporated by different airlines from these markets during late March and April.
- Pegasus
- Qatar Airways
- Qatar Airways Cargo
- Saudia
| Aircraft | Airline | Registration | Ferry flight | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 787-9 | Qatar | A7-BHR | CHS-DOH | March 30th |
| Boeing 777-F | Qatar Cargo | A7-BTB | PAE-DOH | April 14th |
| Airbus A321-251NX | Pegasus | TC-RDO | TLS-SAW | April 24th |
| Airbus A321-251NX | Saudia | HZ-ASAH | XFW-JED | April 25th |
To read the other reports we published during April:
- United States and Canada
- Latin America
- Europe
- Asia and Oceania
- Dubai deep dive: How Emirates runs its megahub
Cover photo: Mirko Bleuer – JetPhotos (Cape Town, South Africa).
![An example full flight summary response from the Flightradar24 API: { "data": [ { "fr24_id": "0987654321", "flight": "SK1415", "callsign": "SAS1415", "operated_as": "SAS", "painted_as": "SAS", "type": "A20N", "reg": "SE-DOY", "orig_icao": "ESSA", "orig_iata": "ARN", "datetime_takeoff": "2023-01-27T05:15:22", "runway_takeoff": "12R", "dest_icao": "EKCH", "dest_iata": "CPH", "dest_icao_actual": "EPWA", "dest_iata_actual": "WAW", "datetime_landed": "2023-01-27T06:15:10", "runway_landed": "27L", "flight_time": 3600, "actual_distance": 1007.74, "circle_distance": 6245, "category": "Passenger", "hex": "4A91F9", "first_seen": "2023-01-27T05:06:22", "last_seen": "2023-01-27T06:18:10", "flight_ended": "true" } ] }](https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Flight-summary-API-cover-300x148.jpg)
