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

• QR 1491  Doha DOH 02:45 · 08:10 FIH Kinshasa
• 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 · 18:55 FIH Kinshasa
• QR 1489  Kinshasa FIH 19:55 · 05:45+1 DOH Doha

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).

Air Algérie

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

• AH 2018  Oran ORN 09:45 · 12:10 BCN Barcelona
• AH 2019  Barcelona BCN 13:10 · 13:30 ORN Oran

Sunday

• AH 2018  Oran ORN 19:45 · 22:10 BCN Barcelona
• AH 2019  Barcelona BCN 23:10 · 23:30 ORN Oran

Air Algérie currently performs a daily frequency between Algiers and the Spanish city with the same airplanes.

Air Arabia Maroc

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

• 3O 431  Casablanca CMN 18:00 · 00:30 IST Istanbul
• 3O 432  Istanbul IST 01:20 · 04:30 CMN Casablanca

Saturday

• 3O 431  Casablanca CMN 15:30 · 22:00 IST Istanbul
• 3O 432  Istanbul IST 22:50 · 02:00+1 CMN Casablanca

Air Arabia Maroc has 11 Airbus A320-200s in its fleet, averaging 10.5 years old.

AirAsia X

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

• D7 101  Kuala Lumpur KUL 19:00 · 23:00 NBO Nairobi

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday

• D7 102  Nairobi NBO 00:30 · 15:10 KUL Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur – Nairobi will be AirAsiaX’s longest route.

Air Cairo

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

• SM 303  Cairo CAI 11:45 · 14:00 SAW Istanbul
• SM 304  Istanbul SAW 14:55 · 17:05 CAI Cairo

Sunday

• SM 303  Cairo CAI 01:40 · 04:05 SAW Istanbul
• SM 304  Istanbul SAW 05:05 · 07:15 CAI Cairo

From July onwards, a flight per week (on Thursdays) is planned.

Air Côte d’Ivoire

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.

• Accra (ACC): increase from 7 to 14 weekly
• Bamako (BKO): increase from 7 to 14 weekly
• Conakry (CKY) – Bissau (OXB): new route · October 1st
• Conakry (CKY) – Monrovia (ROB): new route · October 2nd
• Cotonou (COO): increase from 7 to 13 weekly
• Dakar (DSS): increase from 10 to 14 weekly
• Lome (LFW): increase from 7 to 14 weekly
• Niamey (NIM) – Ouagadougou (OUA): new route · October 1st
• Ouagadougou (OUA) – Niamey (NIM): new route · October 1st
• Pointe Noire (PNR) – Brazzaville (BZV): increase from 1 to 3 weekly

Air Sénégal

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

• HC 427  Dakar DSS 00:25 · 07:40 MRS Marseille
• HC 427  Marseille MRS 08:50 · 09:50 LYS Lyon
• HC 427  Lyon LYS 11:00 · 14:30 DSS Dakar

Barcelona · June 23rd

Tuesday and Sunday

• HC 423  Dakar DSS 02:30 · 09:25 BCN Barcelona
• HC 424  Barcelona BCN 10:40 · 13:40 DSS Dakar

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.

EGYPTAIR

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

• MS 873  Cairo CAI 23:35 · 03:30+1 JIB Djibouti

Friday and Sunday

• MS 873  Djibouti JIB 04:30 · 06:25 MGQ Mogadishu
• MS 874  Mogadishu MGQ 07:25 · 09:20 JIB Djibouti
• MS 874  Djibouti JIB 10:20 · 14:15 CAI Cairo

Emirates

We review Emirates’ schedule on the Dubai – Mahe (Victoria) – Antananarivo route.

Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday

• EK 707  Dubai DXB 08:55 · 13:35 SEZ Mahe
• EK 707  Mahe SEZ 15:05 · 16:50 TNR Antananarivo

• EK 708  Antananarivo TNR 18:35 · 22:20 SEZ Mahe
• EK 708  Mahe SEZ 23:50 · 04:20+1 DXB Dubai

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.

Ethiopian

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.

Etihad

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

• EY 627  Abu Dhabi AUH 08:00 · 09:10 ELQ Al-Qassim
• EY 628  Al-Qassim ELQ 10:15 · 13:20 AUH Abu Dhabi

Etihad Airways’ routes in the United Arab Emirates – Saudi Arabia market

• 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

flyadeal

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

• F3 525  Riyadh RUH 11:25 · 14:20 DWC Dubai
• F3 526  Dubai DWC 15:20 · 16:20 RUH Riyadh

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.

flydubai

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

• FZ 1839  Dubai DXB 15:10 · 19:30 WAW Warsaw
• FZ 1840  Warsaw WAW 21:25 · 05:25+1 DXB Dubai

Daily · new flight

• FZ 1835  Dubai DXB 03:30 · 07:05 WAW Warsaw
• FZ 1836  Warsaw WAW 08:35 · 16:55 DXB Dubai

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.

FlyEgypt

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

• FT 263  Hurghada HRG 04:00 · 08:20 EVN Yerevan
• FT 264  Yerevan EVN 09:20 · 11:45 HRG Hurghada

Nesma Airlines

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

• NE 301  Cairo CAI 18:15/18:00 · 21:30/21:15 MXP Milan
• NE 302  Milan MXP 22:30/22:15 · 03:05/02:50+1 CAI Cairo

Düsseldorf, Munich and Skopje are part of the Egyptian airline’s network in Europe.

Qatar Airways

We review Qatar’s important route network from/to Doha in Africa:

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

• Addis Ababa (ADD): 3 weekly · A320/77W

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

• Cape Town (CPT): 7 weekly · Airbus A350-900
• Johannesburg (JNB): 14 weekly · Airbus A350-900

South Africa/Mozambique

• DOH – Durban (DUR) – Maputo (MPM) – DOH: 5 weekly · Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner

Tanzania

• DOH – Dar-es-Salaam (DAR) – Kilimanjaro (JRO) – DOH: 2 weekly · Boeing 787-8
• DOH – Kilimanjaro (JRO) – Dar-es-Salaam (DAR) – DOH: 7 weekly · A332/A333
• Zanzibar (ZNZ): 7 weekly · Airbus A320-200

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

Royal Air Maroc

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

• AT 1406  Rabat RBA 13:15 · 15:10 EUN El Aaiun
• AT 1407  El Aaiun EUN 16:00 · 17:50 RBA Rabat

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.

RwandAir

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

• WB 210  Kigali KGL 09:00 · 10:35 BZV Brazzaville
• WB 210  Brazzaville BZV 11:35 · 13:40 DLA Douala

• WB 211  Douala DLA 14:55 · 17:00 BZV Brazzaville
• WB 211  Brazzaville BZV 18:00 · 21:30 KGL Kigali

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.

Sun D’Or

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.

• Kefalonia (EFL): 2 weekly
• Sitia (JSH): 2 weekly

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

Tassili Airlines

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

• SF 2384  Bechar CBH 10:30 · 12:15 ORN Oran
• SF 2385  Oran ORN 12:45 · 14:05 CBH Bechar

Tassili Airlines routes from/to Bechar and Oran

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.

Other reports we have published:

• United States and Canada
• Latin America
• Europe
• Asia and Oceania
• Lufthansa sending the A380 to Washington
• Virgin comes back to Canada with Toronto flights
• Luck of the Irish: Aer Lingus begins flights to Vegas
• Aurora Borealis and Saudi Arabia’s commercial center: BA announces two new routes

Cover photo: M. Azizul Islam – JetPhotos (Doha, Qatar).