We have reached the end of the March world aviation report, with the Africa and Middle East post.

During the last few weeks, Morocco has been adding important new international connections that will be inaugurated later on, from countries such as the United States, Canada, Iceland and England.

This illustrates the growing interest of airlines in this market. In addition, the agreement with tourism entities in the country supports the launching of new routes, as was done between PLAY and Marrakech.

United Airlines recently opened reservations for its first route to Morocco. These services, from Newark to Marrakech, will begin in late October and will be operated on Boeing 767-300(ER) jets.

Morocco will be United’s fourth market in Africa after Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa.

In terms of new aircraft, Air Tanzania incorporated its second Boeing 737 MAX 9 just out of the factory. The plane, with registration 5H-TCQ, arrived in the country from Seattle with two stopovers, on a delivery flight of almost 3 days.

Air Tanzania has one of the most modern fleets on the continent.

We review other highlights of this market:

• Air Arabia launches a new connection to Iraq.

• AnadoluJet inaugurated services between Istanbul and Giza, Egypt.

• Cemair adds three connections to/from Johannesburg.

• China Eastern increases frequencies to Dubai.

• El Al modifies its operations between Tel Aviv and Europe.

• Ethiopian boosts flights to the Middle East.

• Etihad expands service between Abu Dhabi and Rome.

• flydubai to duplicate frequencies to Milan Bergamo.

• flynas will operate flights between Riyadh and El Dabaa, Egypt.

• Gulf Air boosts services to Manchester.

• Kenya Airways inaugurated flights between Nairobi and Eldoret, a domestic route.

• Qatar Airways adds operations to Scandinavia.

• Royal Air Maroc will begin service between Casablanca and Manchester.

• Turkish Airlines will inaugurate flights to Tripoli, Libya.

Air Arabia

Beginning June 3rd, Air Arabia will launch services between Sharjah and Basra. The airline will offer three weekly flights to the Iraqi city with Airbus A320-200 planes.

Monday, Wednesday and Friday

• G9 833  Sharjah SHJ 14:00 · 14:50 BSR Basra
• G9 834  Basra BSR 15:30 · 18:20 SHJ Sharjah

Basra will be Air Arabia’s fourth destination in Iraq from/to Sharjah:

• Al Najaf (NJF): 3 weekly · Airbus A320
• Baghdad (BGW): 7 weekly · Airbus A320
• Erbil (EBL): 7 weekly · Airbus A320

Air France / ASL Airlines France

The French carrier confirmed it will add via leasing Boeing 737-800s from ASL Airlines between April and September.

These aircraft will be based at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, and will cover the following routes in Africa:

• Paris (CDG) – Oran Es Senia (ORN): 1 weekly · eff July 6th
• Paris (CDG) – Tunis (TUN): 1 weekly · eff July 6th
• Paris (CDG) – Casablanca (CMN): 1 weekly · eff July 8th
• Paris (CDG) – Marrakech (RAK): 1 weekly · eff July 10th

Currently, according to our database, Air France offers these routes with the Airbus A320 and Airbus A321.

Air Tanzania

On March 26th, Air Tanzania took delivery of its second Boeing 737 MAX 9 (5H-TCQ). The airplane landed in Dar es-Salaam, the company’s main base in the country, from Seattle Boeing Field with stops in Puerto Rico and Senegal.

Air Tanzania owns one of the most modern fleets on the African continent, averaging 6 years of age between its 14 aircraft:

• Airbus A220-300: 4
• Boeing 737 MAX 9: 2
• Boeing 767-300(F): 1
• Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner: 2
• De Havilland Canada DHC-8-400: 5

The carrier added its first Boeing 737 MAX 9, registered as 5H-TCP, in September 2023.

AnadoluJet

At 01:39 local time on Sunday, March 3rd, AnadoluJet’s inaugural flight from Istanbul (SAW) arrived at Giza (SPX). Operations will be conducted five times a week on Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft seating 186 passengers.

Daily except Wednesday and Thursday

• TK 5572  SAW 00:30/00:40/00:50 · 01:40/01:50/01:55 SPX
• TK 5573  SPX 02:50/02:55/03:10/03:55 · 06:05/06:15/06:20/07:20 SAW

Current routes between Istanbul SAW and Egypt

Alexandria (HBE)

• Pegasus: 4 weekly

Cairo (CAI)

• Nile Air: 4 weekly

Giza (SPX)

• AnadoluJet: 5 weekly
• Pegasus: 5 weekly

Hurghada (HRG)

• Pegasus: 15 weekly

Sharm el-Sheikh (SSH)

• Pegasus: 11 weekly

Cemair

East London and Mala Mala, Cemair’s new regular connections to/from Johannesburg.

Services will start between April and June, in accordance with its booking system.

East London · April 7th

Daily except Friday and Saturday

• 5Z 204  Johannesburg JNB 18:00 · 19:30 ELS East London

Daily except Saturday and Sunday

• 5Z 205  East London ELS 06:00 · 07:20 JNB Johannesburg

Mala Mala · June 1st

Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday

• 5Z 780  Johannesburg JNB 11:15 · 12:30 AAM Mala Mala
• 5Z 781  Mala Mala AAM 13:00 · 14:15 JNB Johannesburg

Furthermore, the company inaugurated its services between Johannesburg and Harare last March 21st, which will have the following schedule:

Monday, Wednesday and Friday

• 5Z 770  Johannesburg JNB 07:00 · 08:40 HRE Harare
• 5Z 771  Harare HRE 09:25 · 11:05 JNB Johannesburg

On Sundays it will depart Johannesburg at 10:00 and 12:25 from Harare.

China Eastern Airlines

On April 23rd, China Eastern will increase its flight frequency between Shanghai Pudong and Dubai. As reported on its website, the carrier will boost from five to seven services per week on this route, which operates with Airbus A330-300s (flight MU 245/246).

China Eastern Airlines routes between China and the United Arab Emirates:

• Kunming (KMG): 2 weekly · Boeing 787-9
• Qingdao (TAO): 3 weekly · Airbus A330-300
• Shanghai (PVG): 5 weekly · Airbus A330-300
• Xi’an (XIY): 3 weekly · Airbus A330-200

El Al

The Tel Aviv-based carrier announced it will modify part of its schedule in Europe. El Al will have these changes between late March and early July:

France

• Nice (NCE): from 5 to 6 weekly · eff July 2nd
• Paris (CDG): from 22 to 27 weekly · eff March 31st

Germany

• Berlin (BER): from 11 to 7 weekly · eff July 16th

Greece

• Thessaloniki (SKG): from 4 to 5 weekly · eff May 5th

Italy

• Milan (MXP): from 12 to 14 weekly · eff April 15th
• Rome (FCO): from 12 to 13 weekly · eff March 31st

Poland

• Warsaw (WAW): from 3 to 5 weekly · eff March 31st

Portugal

• Lisbon (LIS): from 5 to 6 weekly · eff April 2nd

Slovenia

• Ljubljana (LJU): 1 weekly · seasonal services effective July 2nd

Spain

• Barcelona (BCN): will not increase to 14 weekly (maintains 10)

Switzerland

• Zurich (ZRH): from 9 to 10 weekly · eff July 3rd

Ethiopian

The airline confirmed the increase of its services between Ethiopia and the Middle East.

In line with the booking system, Ethiopian Airlines will add more flights to Bahrain, Dammam and Muscat from Addis Ababa, the company’s hub in the country.

These three routes are operated with Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.

Muscat · eff March 27th (from 5 to 7 weekly)

Daily

• ET 624  Addis Ababa ADD 22:20/22:30 · 03:40/03:50+1 MCT Muscat
• ET 625  Muscat MCT 04:30/04:40 · 07:30/07:40 ADD Addis Ababa

Dammam · eff April 1st (from 6 to 7 weekly)

Daily

• ET 422  Addis Ababa ADD 21:45 · 01:45+1 DMM Dammam
• ET 423  Dammam DMM 02:40 · 06:50 ADD Addis Ababa

Bahrain · eff June 2nd (from 3 to 4 weekly)

Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday

• ET 424  Addis Ababa ADD 22:10 · 02:20+1 BAH Bahrain

Wednesday, Friday and Sunday

• ET 425  Bahrain BAH 03:30 · 07:20 ADD Addis Ababa

New flight departing from Addis Ababa on Sundays and Mondays from Bahrain.

Etihad

Effective October 27th, Etihad Airways will boost its operations between Abu Dhabi and Rome Fiumicino. Currently, the carrier has 12 weekly flights, which will increase to 14.

Daily

• EY 85  Abu Dhabi AUH 02:25 · 06:35 FCO Rome
• EY 86  Rome FCO 11:00 · 19:05 AUH Abu Dhabi

Will increase to daily

• EY 83  Abu Dhabi AUH 14:40 · 18:50 FCO Rome
• EY 84  Rome FCO 22:35 · 06:40+1 AUH Abu Dhabi

EY 83/84 is currently carried out on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

In Italy, in addition to Rome, Etihad offers 10 services a week with the 290-seat Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.

flydubai

The company will double its flights between Dubai and Milan Bergamo as of March 31st, with the introduction of the second daily frequency.

According to our database, flydubai will operate 14 weekly services on Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplanes.

Daily

• FZ 1571  Dubai DXB 17:25 · 22:20 BGY Milan
• FZ 1572  Milan BGY 23:20 · 07:40+1 DXB Dubai

Daily · new

• FZ 1573  Dubai DXB 07:20 · 12:15 BGY Milan
• FZ 1574  Milan BGY 13:40 · 21:55 DXB Dubai

flydubai routes between Dubai and Italy

• Catania (CTA): 3 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8
• Milan (BGY): 14 weekly · eff March 31st
• Naples (NAP): 7 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8
• Pisa (PSA): 3 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8

flynas

El Dabaa, flynas’ new destination in Egypt.

The Saudi airline will have two flights per week from/to Riyadh with 174-seat Airbus A320neo aircraft, beginning July 3rd.

Wednesday and Sunday

• XY 339  Riyadh RUH 14:30 · 16:30 DBB El Dabaa
• XY 340  El Dabaa DBB 18:20 · 21:25 RUH Riyadh

Gulf Air

The company will boost its operations between Bahrain and Manchester starting in July. Gulf Air currently offers four weekly services on Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner jets.

Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday

• GF 5  Bahrain BAH 02:10 · 07:15 MAN Manchester
• GF 6  Manchester MAN 09:15 · 18:20 BAH Bahrain

New flight on Fridays.

As well as Manchester, in the United Kingdom, the airline has two flights a day to/from London Heathrow:

Daily

• GF 3  Bahrain BAH 10:25 · 15:20 LHR London
• GF 6  London LHR 22:05 · 06:20+1 BAH Bahrain

Daily

• GF 7  Bahrain BAH 02:00 · 06:55 LHR London
• GF 2  London LHR 10:00 · 18:15 BAH Bahrain

Kenya Airways

On Monday (25) at 10:42 local time, Kenya Airways’ first regular service from Nairobi landed in Eldoret. The carrier will operate five weekly with Embraer 190s configured for 96 passengers.

As can be seen in our database, the last flight on this route was on March 29th, 2021.

Wednesday, Friday and Saturday

• KQ 660  Nairobi NBO 06:40 · 07:30 EDL Eldoret
• KQ 661  Eldoret EDL 08:15 · 09:05 NBO Nairobi

Starting April 3rd, it will depart Nairobi at 06:35 and 08:10 from Eldoret.

Thursday and Sunday

• KQ 664  Nairobi NBO 18:20 · 19:10 EDL Eldoret
• KQ 665  Eldoret EDL 19:55 · 20:45 NBO Nairobi

Routes from/to Eldoret

Fly540

• Lodwar (LOK)
• Nairobi (NBO)

Jambojet

• Kisumu (KIS)
• Nairobi (NBO)

Kenya Airways

• Nairobi (NBO)

Skyward Express

• Lodwar (LOK)
• Nairobi (WIL)

Nile Air

For the beginning of the high season, Nile Air will have charter flights between Hurghada and Europe.

Düsseldorf has already started with these services on March 24th, but the next additions will commence during the April-June period.

• Zurich (ZRH): 1 weekly · April 14th
• Munich (MUC): 2 weekly · May 18th
• Stuttgart (STR): 2 weekly · May 18th
• Cologne (CGN): 1 weekly · June 9th
• Hamburg (HAM): 2 weekly · June 21st
• Nuremberg (NUE): 1 weekly · June 22nd

Düsseldorf will have flights every Sunday.

Qatar

As of April 1st, the carrier will modify its aircraft used on the Doha – Oslo route, where it currently serves with Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

Qatar Airways offers 14 flights per week between the two cities.

Daily

• QR 175  Doha DOH 08:35 · 14:20 OSL Oslo
• QR 176  Oslo OSL 16:05 · 23:40 DOH Doha

Daily · this flight will switch to Airbus A350

• QR 179  Doha DOH 01:55 · 07:40 OSL Oslo
• QR 180  Oslo OSL 09:10 · 16:55 DOH Doha

Seats of these Qatar’s planes

• Airbus A350-900: 283
• Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner: 254
• Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner: 311

Qatar routes in Scandinavia

Copenhagen

• Doha (DOH): 12 weekly · Boeing 787

Evenes · Qatar Cargo

• Frankfurt (FRA) – Evenes (EVE) – Doha (DOH): 1 weekly
• London (STN) – Evenes (EVE) – Doha (DOH): 1 weekly

Oslo

• Doha (DOH): 14 weekly

It also operates cargo flights to Belgium, Spain, Luxembourg, Qatar and the United Kingdom.

Stockholm

• Doha (DOH): 6 weekly · Boeing 787

Royal Air Maroc

The airline announced that it will launch a new regular route between Morocco and the United Kingdom effective June 23rd. Operations were initially scheduled during the summer season, but will be available all year round.

Royal Air Maroc will be the only company with flights between Casablanca and Manchester.

Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday

• AT 818  Casablanca CMN 13:45 · 17:20 MAN Manchester
• AT 819  Manchester MAN 18:20 · 21:45 CMN Casablanca

Manchester will be Royal Air Maroc’s second UK destination (and third airport served).

London Heathrow has nine weekly flights, and London Gatwick six.

Royal Jordanian

Between August and September, Royal Jordanian will perform some services between Amman and Manchester with Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners. At present, the carrier operates Airbus A319-100s and Airbus A320-200s on this route.

During this period, Royal Jordanian will have one of the three flights a week on Boeing 787 aircraft (Wednesdays).

Monday, Wednesday and Saturday

• RJ 115  Amman AMM 11:00 · 14:35 MAN Manchester
• RJ 116  Manchester MAN 15:35 · 22:40 AMM Amman

SAUDIA

The airline confirmed it will expand its operations between Jeddah and London Heathrow effective April 21st.

SAUDIA will increase from eight to fourteen weekly on this route, after receiving leased slots from Virgin Atlantic.

Check schedules, as there will be a different one each day.

Frequency

Jeddah – London (14 weekly)

• SV 113: Friday
• SV 115: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday
• SV 109: Sunday
• SV 107: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday

London – Jeddah (15 weekly)

• SV 106: Daily
• SV 114: Friday
• SV 116: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday
• SV 108: Wednesday

Turkish Airlines

The inaugural Turkish Airlines flight to Tripoli will depart Istanbul at 14:00 local time on March 28th. In accordance with our database, the company will offer three operations per week using Boeing 737-800s.

Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday

• TK 639  Istanbul IST 08:00 · 10:00 MJI Tripoli
• TK 640  Tripoli MJI 12:00 · 16:20 IST Istanbul

Tripoli will be Turkish’s first destination in Libya.

On the Istanbul IST – Tripoli route, Turkish Airlines will be competing with Afriqiyah Airways, Buraq Air, Crown Airlines, Fly Oya, Libyan Airlines, Libyan Wings and Medsky Airways.

United Airlines

Recently, United has opened bookings for its new route between New York (EWR) and Marrakech.

Operations will be during the high season with the 214-seat Boeing 767-300(ER), starting October 24th.

Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday

• UA 628  Newark EWR 21:45 · 10:20+1 RAK Marrakech

It will arrive at 11:20 a.m. in Marrakech from November 5th.

Wednesday, Friday and Sunday

• UA 627  Marrakech RAK 12:20 · 16:25 EWR Newark

It will depart 13:20 from Marrakech from November 6th.

United Airlines’ routes in Africa

Accra, Ghana

• Washington (IAD): 3 weekly · Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner

Cape Town, South Africa

• Newark (EWR): 3 weekly · Boeing 777
• Washington (IAD): 3 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER)

Johannesburg, South Africa

• Newark (EWR): 4 weekly · Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner

Lagos, Nigeria

• Washington (IAD): 3 weekly · Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner

With respect to new aircraft, during late February and mid-March, some companies in this region incorporated planes that had just left the factory.

In total, according to our database, seven jets were added to different carriers, from countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Türkiye, Ethiopia and Tanzania.

The overall number is lower than in other markets, especially compared to Asia/Oceania, the last published report, where more than 25 new aircraft were acquired.

• Air Tanzania

• Ethiopian Airlines

• flydubai

• Pegasus

• Turkish Airlines (x2)

To read the other reports we have published during March, you can click on the following links:

• United States and Canada
• Latin America
• Europe
• Asia and Oceania

Cover photo: Christopher Main – JetPhotos (Port Elizabeth, South Africa).