We continue with the weekly series, in this case from Africa and the Middle East, concluding the global report for the month. To read about the four other markets, please click on the following links:

• Latin America – October 2023.
• United States and Canada – October 2023.
• Europe – October 2023.
• Asia and Oceania – October 2023.

A highlight of the market is the return of South African Airways to Brazil after a four-year hiatus. The airline recovers its connectivity with South America by resuming services to São Paulo.

Cape Town and Johannesburg will have flights to Guarulhos airport. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Johannesburg was South African Airways’ only destination in the Brazilian market.

To consult the airline’s regular schedule, check the SAA section below.

Air Algérie

Air Algérie resumed operations between Algiers and Palma de Mallorca on October 22nd. Services will be performed twice a week with 66-seat ATR 72-500 aircraft.

Flights will have a duration of approximately one hour, and will be every Thursday and Sunday.

• AH 2000  Algiers ALG 16:15 · 17:30 PMI Palma de Mallorca
• AH 2001  Palma de Mallorca PMI 18:20 · 19:35 ALG Algiers

Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca are the airline’s destinations in Spain.

Air Cairo

The carrier based in Egypt’s capital city postpones the start of its flights between Cairo and Tangier, Morocco. Initially, the launch was scheduled for late October, but at the time of publication, services will begin on January 2nd, 2024.

Air Cairo plans the following schedule with Airbus A320s:

Tuesday

• SM 263  Cairo CAI 17:30 · 22:00 TNG Tangier
• SM 264  Tangier TNG 23:00 · 04:45+1 CAI Cairo

Sunday

• SM 263  Cairo CAI 17:40 · 22:10 TNG Tangier
• SM 264  Tangier TNG 23:10 · 04:55+1 CAI Cairo

Currently, Casablanca is the airline’s only destination in Morocco.

Air Mauritius

As of December 8th, the Mauritius airline will increase its operations to Perth, a route it currently operates twice weekly. The flights are carried out with Airbus A330-900neo aircraft configured for 288 passengers.

Tuesday and Saturday

• MK 440  Port Louis MRU 22:15 · 09:10+1 PER Perth

Wednesday and Sunday

• MK 441  Perth PER 13:05 · 17:10 MRU Port Louis

Air Mauritius will add a flight on Fridays from Port Louis and from Perth on Saturdays.

Australia, France, India, Madagascar, Malaysia, Reunion, South Africa, Switzerland and the United Kingdom are Air Mauritius’ international markets.

Emirates

Effective November 1st, Emirates boosted its flights between Dubai and Hong Kong. The airline increased from seven to fourteen weekly services.

The new flight, EK 382/383, will be operated on Boeing 777-300(ER)s for 356 passengers in three seating classes.

Daily (Airbus A380)

• EK 380  Dubai DXB 10:40 · 21:50 HKG Hong Kong
• EK 381  Hong Kong HKG 00:35 · 05:40 DXB Dubai

Daily

• EK 382  Dubai DXB 03:30 · 14:45 HKG Hong Kong
• EK 383  Hong Kong HKG 18:00 · 23:05 DXB Dubai

Apart from Emirates, Cathay Pacific operates this route, once a day with Airbus A350 aircraft.

Etihad

On October 29th, Etihad increased its flights between Abu Dhabi and Mumbai, a route operated by Airbus A320, Airbus A321, Boeing 777-300(ER), Boeing 787-9 and Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner jets. The UAE carrier upgraded from three to four daily services.

Daily – new

• EY 196  Abu Dhabi AUH 03:20 · 07:55 BOM Mumbai
• EY 197  Mumbai BOM 09:30 · 11:25 AUH Abu Dhabi

Daily

• EY 204  Abu Dhabi AUH 15:00 · 19:30 BOM Mumbai
• EY 203  Mumbai BOM 23:05 · 00:50+1 AUH Abu Dhabi

Daily

• EY 206  Abu Dhabi AUH 21:50 · 02:20+1 BOM Mumbai
• EY 205  Mumbai BOM 04:30 · 06:05 AUH Abu Dhabi

Daily

• EY 208  Abu Dhabi AUH 08:05 · 12:40 BOM Mumbai
• EY 207  Mumbai BOM 13:45 · 15:40 AUH Abu Dhabi

Air India, IndiGo and Vistara operate this route as well, all three with a daily frequency.

Furthermore, the airline will increase its capacity on the Abu Dhabi – Barcelona route. 

Etihad will operate between the two cities only with Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner as of November 19th, as can be seen on its website.

At present, Etihad serves El Prat airport using Boeing 787-9s and Boeing 787-10s.

Seats

• Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner: 290
• Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner: 336

Daily

• EY 049  Abu Dhabi AUH 02:50 · 07:05 BCN Barcelona
• EY 050  Barcelona BCN 10:25 · 19:30 AUH Abu Dhabi

Iraqi Airways

Kirkuk will recover its connectivity with Cairo from November 7th. 

Iraqi Airways plans to operate one weekly service on 90-passenger CRJ-900 aircraft.

Tuesday

• IA 143  Baghdad BGW 08:00 · 08:30 KIK Kirkuk
• IA 143  Kirkuk KIK 09:30 · 11:15 CAI Cairo

• IA 144  Cairo CAI 12:15 · 15:30 KIK Kirkuk
• IA 144  Kirkuk KIK 16:30 · 17:00 BGW Baghdad

Iraqi Airways, due to the launch of Kirkuk, will reach five destinations from Cairo:

• Baghdad (BGW): 7 weekly · Airbus A220, Boeing 737 and Boeing 787
• Baghdad (BGW), via Kirkuk: 1 weekly · CRJ-900
• Basra (BSR): 1 weekly · Boeing 737
• Erbil (EBL): 1 weekly · Boeing 737
• Kirkuk (KIK): 1 weekly · CRJ-900
• Sulaimaniyah (ISU): 1 weekly · Boeing 737

Kenya Airways

The airline has increased operations to London from Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. Previously, Kenya Airways had ten flights a week with 219-seat Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft.

As of October 29th, operations expanded to 14, and this schedule will be available for the next few months:

Daily

• KQ 100  Nairobi NBO 09:35 · 15:30 LHR London
• KQ 101  London LHR 17:25 · 05:00+1 NBO Nairobi

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday

• KQ 102  Nairobi NBO 00:30 · 06:25 LHR London
• KQ 103  London LHR 08:30 · 20:20 NBO Nairobi

Tuesday

• KQ 102  Nairobi NBO 01:05 · 07:00 LHR London
• KQ 103  London LHR 09:00 · 20:50 NBO Nairobi

Friday, Sunday

• KQ 102  Nairobi NBO 01:35 · 07:30 LHR London
• KQ 103  London LHR 09:30 · 21:20 NBO Nairobi

Kuwait Airways

Kuwait Airways inaugurated flights between Kuwait City and Barcelona on October 30th. The company will operate three weekly services on Airbus A320-200s with capacity for 132 passengers.

Monday, Thursday and Saturday

• KU 135  Kuwait City KWI 07:15 · 12:30 BCN Barcelona
• KU 136  Barcelona BCN 13:30 · 21:40 KWI Kuwait City

For the first time, the carrier will have flights to Barcelona’s El Prat airport.

Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique (LAM)

The airline from Mozambique plans to resume flights between Maputo and Lisbon as of December 12th. According to its website, LAM expects the following schedule:

Lisbon – Maputo

Tuesday

• TM 703  Lisbon LIS 16:35 · 05:05+1 MPM Maputo

Thursday

• TM 703  Lisbon LIS 16:35 · 05:05+1 MPM Maputo

Saturday

• TM 703  Lisbon LIS 16:00 · 04:30+1 MPM Maputo

Maputo – Lisbon

Wednesday

• TM 704  Maputo MPM 22:00 · 06:55+1 LIS Lisbon

Friday

• TM 704  Maputo MPM 22:15 · 07:10+1 LIS Lisbon

Sunday

• TM 704  Maputo MPM 21:45 · 06:40+1 LIS Lisbon

The operations will be carried out with Boeing 777-200(ER) aircraft, to be leased from EuroAtlantic.

Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe are currently LAM’s regular markets.

Qatar Airways

The company will resume flights to Marrakech, Morocco, as of April 1st, 2024. Qatar’s last flights to the city were on September 11th, 2023.

As before, the route will be Doha – Casablanca – Marrakech – Casablanca – Doha.

Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday

• QR 1395  Doha DOH 08:25 · 14:20 CMN Casablanca
• QR 1395  Casablanca CMN 15:50 · 16:45 RAK Marrakech

• QR 1396  Marrakech RAK 18:15 · 19:05 · CMN Casablanca
• QR 1396  Casablanca CMN 20:40 · 05:50+1 DOH Doha

Current schedule between Qatar and Morocco:

• Qatar Airways · Casablanca (CMN) – Doha (DOH): 3 weekly · Boeing 787
• Royal Air Maroc · Casablanca (CMN) –  Doha (DOH): 7 weekly · Boeing 787

SAUDIA

The Jeddah-based carrier will inaugurate its fourth route to the Americas. SAUDIA will resume operations to Toronto starting December 2nd.

Services between the two cities will return after almost five years, as the last flight was in September 2018.

Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday (Boeing 787-9)

• SV 61  Jeddah JED 09:25 · 15:25 YYZ Toronto
• SV 62  Toronto YYZ 18:15 · 13:45+1 JED Jeddah

Los Angeles, New York and Washington are the carrier’s present destinations in the Americas.

• Jeddah (JED) – Los Angeles (LAX): 2 weekly · Boeing 777
• Jeddah (JED) – New York (JFK): 3 weekly · Boeing 777
• Jeddah (JED) – Washington (IAD): 4 weekly · Boeing 777
• Riyadh (RUH) – New York (JFK): 4 weekly · Boeing 777
• Riyadh (RUH) – Washington (IAD): 2 weekly · Boeing 777

South African Airways

The company resumed service to Brazil on October 31st after an almost four-year suspension as a result of the pandemic and major restructuring. Previously, South African operated to Sao Paulo from Johannesburg with Airbus A340 aircraft.

This October 31st, the airline inaugurated services between Cape Town and Guarulhos, a route it had never operated. In addition, on November 6th, the carrier will resume flights between Johannesburg and Guarulhos.

Both routes will be carried out on Airbus A330-300s with 249 seats, twice a week.

Cape Town

Tuesday and Saturday

• SA 226  Cape Town CPT 12:55 · 16:35 GRU Sao Paulo
• SA 227  Sao Paulo GRU 18:05 · 06:40+1 CPT Cape Town

Johannesburg

Monday and Thursday

• SA 222  Johannesburg JNB 11:15 · 16:15 GRU Sao Paulo
• SA 223  Sao Paulo GRU 17:45 · 07:45+1 JNB Johannesburg

SAA’s schedule

Cape Town

• Sao Paulo, Brazil
• Johannesburg, South Africa

Johannesburg

• Accra, Ghana
• Cape Town, South Africa
• Durban, South Africa
• Kinshasa, Democratic Republic Of The Congo
• Harare, Zimbabwe
• Lagos, Nigeria
• Lilongwe, Malawi
• Lusaka, Zambia
• Port Louis, Mauritius
• Sao Paulo, Brazil
• Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
• Windhoek, Namibia

TAAG

TAAG Angola Airlines, the state-owned carrier of this country, is delaying the launch of its flights between Luanda and Accra, Ghana. The company had planned to inaugurate operations in September, but will be postponed until at least January 2024.

Services are scheduled to start on January 17th with this schedule, although the flight is not not yet available for sale on TAAG’s website:

Tuesday and Sunday

• DT 550  Luanda LAD 20:30 · 22:50 ACC Accra

Monday and Wednesday

• DT 551  Accra ACC 02:00 · 06:30 LAD Luanda

Uganda Airlines

The carrier inaugurated two new routes from the capital city of Uganda during October. Lagos and Mumbai, in Nigeria and India respectively, were the recent additions, which will have three weekly flights with 261-seat Airbus A330-800neo jets.

Mumbai · first flight was on October 7th

Monday and Wednesday

• UR 430  Entebbe EBB 20:25 · 06:05+1 BOM Mumbai

Saturday

• UR 430 Entebbe EBB 13:20 · 23:00 BOM Mumbai

Tuesday and Thursday

• UR 431  Mumbai BOM 08:00 · 12:40 EBB Entebbe

Sunday

• UR 431  Mumbai BOM 01:10 · 05:50 EBB Entebbe

Lagos · first flight was on October 19th

Monday and Sunday

• UR 900  Entebbe EBB 07:00 · 09:30 LOS Lagos
• UR 901  Lagos LOS 11:00 · 17:30 EBB Entebbe

Thursday

• UR 900  Entebbe EBB 16:00 · 18:30 LOS Lagos
• UR 901  Lagos LOS  20:00 · 02:30+1 EBB Entebbe

Regarding the civil aviation situation in Israel, and the status of each airline, you can listen to AvTalk Episode 237.

Cover photo: Sander in West-Africa – JetPhotos.