At 12:42 local time on January 19th, Shanghai Airlines’ inaugural flight from Shanghai via Marseille arrived in Casablanca. The Chinese airline will operate the Shanghai Pudong – Marseille – Casablanca route and vice versa three times per week by Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, with a capacity of 285 passengers in four classes (4 seats in First, 26 seats in Business, 28 seats in Premium Economy and 227 seats in Economy).

Shanghai Airlines initially planned to perform this service through late March, but operations to Aéroport de Casablanca Mohammed V are confirmed until at least late October.

PVG – MRS – CMN

• FM 871  Shanghai PVG 01:55 · 09:00 MRS Marseille (Tuesday and Sunday)
• FM 871  Marseille MRS 11:00 · 13:10 CMN Casablanca (Tuesday and Sunday)

• FM 871  Shanghai PVG 01:25 · 08:30 MRS Marseille (Friday)
• FM 871  Marseille MRS 11:00 · 13:10 CMN Casablanca (Friday)

CMN – MRS – PVG

Tuesday, Friday and Sunday

• FM 872  Casablanca CMN 17:10 · 19:45 MRS Marseille
• FM 872  Marseille MRS 21:45 · 16:40+1 PVG Shanghai

Shanghai Airlines is the only airline to serve regularly, either with a stopover, between Shanghai and Morocco. In the case of Casablanca, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Beijing, Dubai, Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen, Jeddah, Kuwait City, Medina and Moscow are its destinations in Asia and the Middle East.

Emirates boosts flights to Madagascar

During a press conference held by the Minister of Transport, Minister of Tourism and Emirates in Antananarivo, an increase in operations between Dubai and Madagascar from April 2nd was announced.

The airline, as we commented in our September 2024 Africa & Middle East report, inaugurated flights on the Dubai – Victoria (Seychelles) – Antananarivo route on September 3rd, offering four weekly frequencies.

In response to strong passenger demand, Emirates will boost to six services a week, which it will keep operating on Boeing 777-300(ER) jets seating 354 passengers.

Daily except Monday

• EK 707  Dubai DXB 08:55 · 13:35 SEZ Mahe (Victoria)
• 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

New flights on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Announcing the expansion of Emirates’ services to the island at the press conference, Essa Sulaiman Ahmad, Emirates’ Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations for West Asia and Indian Ocean said: “We are pleased to boost our services to Madagascar by offering two additional flights per week in line with soaring demand for travel since the start of operations. Our growing flight schedule to the island means better connectivity, more choice and convenient options for travellers. Enhancing services will also strengthen the economic ties between Madagascar and the UAE, by supporting more inbound and outbound leisure and business travel to the island and bolstering trade lanes with additional cargo capacity.

As tourism to Madagascar flourishes, local businesses thrive, generating a ripple effect that benefits the local communities.  We would like to thank the authorities, the Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Tourism for their support, and we look forward to strengthening our connections and supporting the nation’s development as it looks towards the future.”

“We have been diligently supporting the country’s tourism agenda by promoting the destination across our network, which is evident from the healthy bookings, and we will make every effort to continue raising awareness around the vibrant island’s unique charm and stunning natural landscapes to support sustainable traffic growth,” added Ahmad.

Etihad increases flights to London with Airbus A380

The UAE airline is scheduled to boost its services between Abu Dhabi and London Heathrow as of July 1st. Currently, according to our database, Etihad Airways operates seven to 10 weekly flights on this route with A380s, which are configured for 486 passengers.

By summer 2025, the company will expand from almost two to three daily frequencies to LHR by Airbus A380-800s, a schedule it will operate until late September.

Etihad will maintain its 28 services per week between the two cities, and the remaining frequency will continue to be flown on 290-seat Boeing 787-9 Drealmliner in three classes.

AUH – LHR

• EY 61  Abu Dhabi AUH 02:05 · 06:45 LHR London
• EY 63  Abu Dhabi AUH 08:05 · 12:45 LHR London
• EY 65  Abu Dhabi AUH 10:40 · 15:15 LHR London
• EY 67  Abu Dhabi AUH 14:15 · 18:45 LHR London

LHR – AUH

• EY 62  London LHR 09:30 · 19:25 AUH Abu Dhabi
• EY 64  London LHR 14:50 · 00:45+1 AUH Abu Dhabi
• EY 66  London LHR 20:55 · 06:45+1 AUH Abu Dhabi
• EY 68  London LHR 21:55 · 07:45+1 AUH Abu Dhabi

Flights EY 61/62, EY 63/64 and EY 67/68 will be with Airbus A380.

Turkish Airlines is back in Syria

The airline returned to the Syrian capital on January 23rd following a 13-year suspension.

Turkish will operate three weekly times between Istanbul and Damascus by Airbus A330-200 aircraft, configured for 250/279 passengers in two seating classes. However, as can be seen through our database, the company conducted the first service with the Boeing 777-3F2(ER) registered as TC-JJK. It arrived at DAM at 11:29 local time, and departed at 15:11 local time for IST.

Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday

• TK 846  Istanbul IST 09:00 · 12:00 DAM Damascus
• TK 847  Damascus DAM 14:00 · 15:10 IST Istanbul

Turkish Airlines CEO, Bilal Ekşi stated: “As Turkish Airlines, we are excited to recommence our flights to Damascus, capital of Syria. With the historical ties we share between the two countries, we believe that the return of Turkish Airlines will further reinforce these bonds and contribute to trade and cultural potential of the region. As we continue to diversify the Middle East’s gateways to the world, we continue our mission of building bridges between countries and peoples around the globe with our unparalleled flight network.”

Previously, the company had operated this route between February 1984 and April 2012.

We review other highlights of the Africa and Middle East market

Air Arabia

After a 14-month hiatus, Air Arabia has resumed operations to Somalia.

On January 14th at 09:59 local time, the airline’s first flight from Air Arabia arrived in Bosaso. The airline will run a weekly service on 180-seat Airbus A320-200s.

Tuesday

• G9 660  Sharjah SHJ 08:00 · 09:55 BSA Bosaso
• G9 661  Bosaso BSA 10:45 · 14:40 SHJ Sharjah

 
The carrier continues to grow on the continent with the new route to the Ethiopian capital, which it will provide from Sharjah using the same aircraft, three times a week.

Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday (eff January 31st)

• G9 738  Sharjah SHJ 21:25 · 00:40+1 ADD Addis Ababa
• G9 739  Addis Ababa ADD 01:30 · 06:40 SHJ Sharjah

Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda are its markets offered in Africa from/to Sharjah.

ASL Airlines France

The French company will start services between Clermont-Ferrand and Algiers from July 1st, to be performed during summer 2025.

ASL Airlines France will operate once-weekly with Boeing 737-800 planes.

Tuesday

• 5O 134  Algiers ALG 11:40 · 14:30 CFE Clermont
• 5O 133  Clermont CFE 15:30 · 16:20 ALG Algiers 

Belavia

As of March 2nd, Belavia Belarusian Airlines will commence charter flights between Minsk and Ras al-Khaimah (United Arab Emirates), which will be conducted every 10 days, as reported by AeroRoutes.

Schedule

• B2 9405  Minsk MSQ 03:15 · 10:10 RKT Ras al-Khaimah
• B2 9406  Ras al-Khaimah RKT 11:10 · 16:20 MSQ Minsk

Operations will be carried out by Boeing 737-800 airplanes seating 189 passengers in single class.

Buraq Air

The Tripoli-based carrier is set to take delivery of a new Airbus A320-200, Newsaero has learned. This will be Buraq Air’s second A320, in line with our database.

The new Airbus A320 is a 13-year-old aircraft and is currently located in Kuala Lumpur, awaiting its ferry flight to Libya.

Fleet

• Airbus A320-200 5A-BAA · 12 years old
• Airbus A320-200 5A-        · 13 years old
• Boeing 737-800  5A-DMG · 18 years old (parked at Istanbul ISL)

At publication time, the registration of the second A320 is unknown.

On December 30th, 2024, the Boeing 737-800, registry 5A-DMG, departed Tripoli for Istanbul (ISL) on a ferry flight. The aircraft was apparently withdrawn from service.

Emirates

Emirates Airline initiated flights in the Middle East with Airbus A350-900s in early January.

The two routes, Bahrain and Kuwait City, will be provided from Dubai, 14 and seven times per week, respectively.

• Bahrain (BAH): flight EK 837/838 and EK 839/840
• Kuwait City (KWI): flight EK 853/854

Services from Dubai to Ahmedabad and Mumbai with A350-900s began on January 26th.

Following with A350 operations, on January 2nd, Emirates started flights on the Dubai-Edinburgh route by these aircraft, which had originally been scheduled to operate from November 2024. Due to delivery delays, between November 2nd, 2024 and January 1st, 2025 the airline flew Boeing 777-200(LR) planes.

Daily

• EK 23  Dubai DXB 14:50 · 19:05 EDI Edinburgh
• EK 24  Edinburgh EDI 20:40 · 08:05+1 DXB Dubai

Ethiopian

Effective June 16th, Ethiopian Airlines is scheduled to launch a new destination to India, bringing its total number of routes in the country to five.

Flights between Addis Ababa and Hyderabad will be conducted three times weekly with 160-seat Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplanes.

Monday, Wednesday and Friday

• ET 682  Addis Ababa ADD 16:10 · 00:40+1 HYD Hyderabad

Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday

• ET 683  Hyderabad HYD 01:55 · 05:55 ADD Addis Ababa

Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai are part of Ethiopian Airlines’ regular schedule in India.

Fly Angola

On January 6th at 07:44 local time, the Fly Angola flight EQ 10 took off from Luanda, capital of Angola, bound for Catumbela (Angola).

Almost two hours later, more precisely at 09:38 local time of the same day, the airline’s inaugural service to Windhoek, the capital and main country of Namibia, departed Catumbela.

Fly Angola will fly three times per week the route Luanda – Catumbela (CBT) – Windhoek and vice versa by Embraer 145 jets.

LAD – CBT – WDH

• EQ 10  Luanda LAD 07:30 · 08:30 CBT Catumbela (Monday and Friday)
• EQ 10  Catumbela CBT 09:20 · 12:30 WDH Windhoek (Monday and Friday)

• EQ 10  Luanda LAD 11:30 · 12:30 CBT Catumbela (Wednesday)
• EQ 10  Catumbela CBT 13:20 · 16:30 WDH Windhoek (Wednesday)

WDH – CBT – LAD

• EQ 11  Windhoek WDH 13:20 · 14:30 CBT Catumbela (Monday and Friday)
• EQ 11  Catumbela CBT 15:30 · 16:30 LAD Luanda (Monday and Friday)

• EQ 11  Windhoek WDH 17:20 · 18:30 CBT Catumbela (Wednesday)
• EQ 11  Catumbela CBT 19:30 · 20:30 LAD Luanda (Wednesday)

Iran Air

Two new routes from Bandar Abbas (BND).

Iran Air resumes an international service and a domestic route within Iran, both of which will operate on 68-seat ATR 72-500s.

• Doha (DOH): 2 weekly · December 23rd (flight IR 3510/3511)
• Yazd (AZD): 1 weekly · January 7th (flight IR 3366/3367)

Israir

The airline will open three new connections to Europe from Tel Aviv, to be operated by Airbus A320-200s.

Tel Aviv – Debrecen · April 24th

Monday and Thursday

• 6H 709  Tel Aviv TLV 20:30 · 22:55 DEB Debrecen
• 6H 710  Debrecen DEB 23:55 · 03:50+1 TLV Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv – Vilnius · April 24th

Thursday and Sunday

• 6H 825  Tel Aviv TLV 21:00 · 01:40+1 VNO Vilnius

Monday and Friday

• 6H 826  Vilnius VNO 02:40 · 06:40 TLV Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv – Basel/Mulhouse · June 10th

Tuesday

• 6H 393  Tel Aviv TLV 09:15 · 12:45 BSL Basel
• 6H 394  Basel BSL 13:45 · 18:45 TLV Tel Aviv

Nesma Airlines

Beginning April 1st, Nesma Airlines will expand its operations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia with the new Cairo – Dammam route. The Egyptian carrier will fly three times weekly on Airbus A320-200 aircraft.

CAI – DMM

• NE 150  Cairo CAI 02:20 · 06:15 DMM Dammam (Tuesday)
• NE 150  Cairo CAI 09:30 · 13:25 DMM Dammam (Thursday)
• NE 150  Cairo CAI 22:15 · 02:10+1 DMM Dammam (Saturday)

DMM – CAI

• NE 151  Dammam DMM 07:15 · 09:20 CAI Cairo (Tuesday)
• NE 151  Dammam DMM 14:25 · 16:30 CAI Cairo (Thursday)
• NE 151  Dammam DMM 03:10 · 05:15 CAI Cairo (Sunday)

Nouvelair

AeroRoutes reported that Nouvelair Tunisie will have a major expansion from Tunis during summer 2025, compared to summer 2024.

Algiers (ALG), Brussels (BRU), Frankfurt (FRA), Istanbul (IST), London (LGW), Lyon (LYS), Marseille (MRS), Milan (MXP), Munich (MUC), Nantes (NTE), Nice (NCE), Paris (CDG) and Toulouse (TLS) will be the routes with updates, which will be conducted from/to Tunis International Airport.

These increases will represent one to four more flights a week compared to last summer.

Pakistan International Airlines

On January 10th at 09:59 local time, PIA’s first service to Muscat took off Gwadar (Pakistan). The Pakistani airline has resumed this route after a 14-month suspension.

Friday

• PK 197  Gwadar GWD 09:20 · 09:55 MCT Muscat
• PK 198  Muscat MCT 10:45 · 13:05 GWD Gwadar

Pakistan International Airlines will operate by 48-seat ATR 42-500s, once-weekly.

The last flight performed on November 9th, 2023 had been on the ATR 42-500 registration AP-BHI, as well as the first one on January 10th, 2025.

Qatar Airways

Following a five-and-a-half year absence, Qatar Airways announced that it will return to Malta with flights from Doha. Services are scheduled to begin on July 2nd.

Qatar will provide four operations per week with Airbus A320-200s configured for 132/144/168 passengers in two classes.

DOH – MLA

• QR 383  Doha DOH 08:45 · 13:25 MLA Malta (Monday and Saturday)
• QR 381  Doha DOH 02:05 · 06:45 MLA Malta (Wednesday and Friday)

MLA – DOH

• QR 384  Malta MLA 17:05 · 23:10 DOH Doha (Monday and Saturday)
• QR 382  Malta MLA 10:15 · 16:20 DOH Doha (Wednesday and Friday)

Royal Jordanian

RJ will return to Syria.

The first service is planned for January 31st from Amman, a route to be flown four weekly times on 104-seat Embraer 190s.

AMM – DAM

• RJ 435  Amman AMM 12:00 · 13:45 DAM Damascus (Tuesday and Thursday)
• RJ 435  Amman AMM 07:20 · 09:05 DAM Damascus (Friday and Sunday)

DAM – AMM

• RJ 436  Damascus DAM 14:45 · 14:35 AMM Amman (Tuesday and Thursday)
• RJ 436  Damascus DAM 10:05 · 09:55 AMM Amman (Friday and Sunday)

Amman will be the shortest route from Damascus, offering connection in the Jordanian capital to Royal Jordanian’s more than 45 destinations.

Mr. Samer Majali, CEO of Royal Jordanian Airlines, stated: “Resuming our new flights to Damascus emphasize our commitment to be one the first airlines to offer international connectivity to the Syrian market. Amman has long served as the gateway to Syria, enabling travelers from the U.S. and Europe to connect to the region. We are pleased to announce the resumption with four weekly flights, expanding to daily service in April, and look forward to reconnecting Syria to the world.”

Saudia

As of March 30th, Saudi International Airlines will inaugurate its flights between Neom Bay and London Gatwick, which it will perform by Airbus A320-200s.

Sunday

• SV 3203  Neom Bay NUM 14:50 · 18:40 LGW London
• SV 3204  London LGW 20:10 · 03:40+1 NUM Neom Bay

Jeddah is Saudia’s current destination from LGW.

South African

At 22:12 local time on January 20th, South African’s first service to Dar-es-Salaam departed Johannesburg. The airline resumes operations to Tanzania after five years.

Daily

• SA 188  Johannesburg JNB 22:00 · 02:30+1 DAR Dar-es-Salaam
• SA 189  Dar-es-Salaam DAR 05:10 · 07:55 JNB Johannesburg

South African Airways will fly Airbus A320-200 aircraft, according to our database.

Australia, Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe are South African’s markets.

Sun d’Or

The company will start operating to Albania effective March 31st. 

As per its website, Sun d’Or International Airlines, a member of the El Al group, is scheduled to serve between Tel Aviv and Tirana with 189-seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

Monday, Wednesday and Friday

• LY 5183  Tel Aviv TLV 05:15 · 07:10 TIA Tirana
• LY 5184  Tirana TIA 08:15 · 11:50 TLV Tel Aviv

Turkish

More flights to Ghana.

The airline will boost its services between Istanbul and Accra as of April 4th, increasing from 10 to 12 a week.

IST – ACC

• TK 649  Istanbul IST 17:00 · 21:15 ACC Accra (Mon/Wed/Thu)
• TK 629  Istanbul IST 14:05 · 18:30 ACC Accra (Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat/Sun)
• TK 629  Istanbul IST 14:00 · 18:10 ACC Accra (Tuesday)
• TK 609  Istanbul IST 01:25 · 05:40 ACC Accra (Fri/Sat/Sun)

ACC – IST

• TK 650  Accra ACC 22:25 · 08:25+1 IST Istanbul (Mon/Wed/Thu)
• TK 630  Accra ACC 19:40 · 05:45+1 IST Istanbul (Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat/Sun)
• TK 630  Accra ACC 19:55 · 05:45+1 IST Istanbul (Tuesday)
• TK 610  Accra ACC 06:50 · 17:00 IST Istanbul (Fri/Sat/Sun)

Turkish Airlines operates Airbus A330-300s and Boeing 737 MAX 8s.

New aircraft incorporated by airlines from Africa and the Middle East

• Emirates (x2)

• Ethiopian Airlines (x2)

• Saudi International Airlines

Other reports we have published

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

Cover photo: Stefano R – JetPhotos (Shanghai-Hongqiao – ZSSS – China)