We have reached the end of the January report about airline routes and fleets. To read the previous sections, you can click on the following links:
- United States and Canada – January 2024.
- Latin America – January 2024.
- Europe – January 2024.
- Asia and Oceania – January 2024.
Regarding highlights of the month, we have many new developments between both markets of this section, Africa and Middle East, as well as new routes to Europe and the return of an airline to Australia from an important African hub.
Highlights
- Air Arabia expands routes to/from Europe.
- Air Côte d’Ivoire schedules new routes to Europe and the United States.
- Al Ula airport (ULH) adds two new connections in February.
- Ethiopian acquired a new Boeing 737 MAX 8.
- flydubai began operations to Kenya.
- Oman Air plans to reduce frequencies on part of its routes to Asia.
- South African Airways will launch flights to Australia, its second market outside the African continent.
Air Arabia
Athens and Krakow, new Air Arabia destinations in Europe.
The company will start operations between Sharjah and Athens on June 28th. In line with its website, it will offer four weekly flights with Airbus A320.
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday
- G9 684 Sharjah SHJ 09:00 · 13:05 ATH Athens
- G9 685 Athens ATH 13:55 · 19:50 SHJ Sharjah
Additionally, beginning June 29th, the airline will launch services to Krakow, where it will fly once a day on Airbus A320-200s with a capacity of 186 passengers.
Daily except Friday
- G9 730 Sharjah SHJ 09:00 · 13:05 KRK Krakow
- G9 731 Krakow KRK 13:55 · 21:35 SHJ Sharjah
On Fridays it will depart Sharjah at 10:10 and 15:05 from Krakow.
Air Côte d’Ivoire
The Ivorian flag carrier announced plans to inaugurate new routes from Abidjan, the country’s capital, as published by the site Punch.
Beirut, Geneva, London, New York, Paris and Washington are the upcoming destinations in Air Côte d’Ivoire’s future planning, although there is no official information at this time about possible start dates.
The company has 9 aircraft in its fleet, and all its routes are within Africa.
Fleet
| Aircraft | Registration | Age |
|---|---|---|
| Airbus A319-115 | TU-TSY | 15 years |
| Airbus A319-115 | TU-TSZ | 15 years |
| Airbus A320-214 | TU-TSV | 6 years |
| Airbus A320-214 | TU-TSW | 6 years |
| Airbus A320-251N | TU-TSX | 3 years |
| Dash 8-400 | TU-TSI | 8 years |
| Dash 8-400 | TU-TSK | 9 years |
| Dash 8-400 | TU-TSL | 9 years |
| Dash 8-400 | TU-TSQ | 7 years |
Air France
The airline will modify the operating schedule to Djibouti as of April 3rd. Air France currently offers weekly service with Airbus A350-900 aircraft (324 seats).
According to its reservation system, the company will begin using only the 280-seat Boeing 777-200(ER) jets on this route from/to Paris.
Flight frequency remains unchanged.
Wednesday
- AF 670 Paris CDG 23:30 · 08:25+1 JIB Djibouti
Thursday
- AF 669 Djibouti JIB 23:55 · 05:45+1 CDG Paris
Paris and Istanbul are regular destinations in Europe from Djibouti.
Emirates
Effective January 1st, 2025, Emirates plans to increase to daily its flights between Dubai and Addis Ababa. The carrier has six operations per week on Boeing 777-300(ER) airplanes.
Daily except Thursday (currently)
- EK 723 Dubai DXB 09:25 · 12:40 ADD Addis Ababa
- EK 724 Addis Ababa ADD 15:05 · 20:15 DXB Dubai
Emirates routes to/from Africa
- Abidjan (ABJ): 7 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER) – via ACC
- Accra (ACC): 7 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER)
- Addis Ababa (ADD): 6 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER)
- Cairo (CAI): 28 weekly · A380/77W
- Cape Town (CPT): 14 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER)
- Casablanca (CMN): 7 weekly · Airbus A380
- Conakry (CKY): 4 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER) · CKY-DXB is via DKR
- Dakar (DKR): 4 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER)
- Dar-es-Salaam (DAR): 6 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER)
- Durban (DUR): 7 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER)
- Entebbe (EBB): 5 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER)
- Harare (HRE): 7 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER) – via LUN
- Johannesburg (JNB): 21 weekly · A380/77W
- Luanda (LAD): 4 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER)
- Lusaka (LUN): 7 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER)
- Nairobi (NBO): 14 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER)
- Port Louis (MRU): 14 weekly · Airbus A380
- Victoria (SEZ): 12 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER)
It also offers flights to other African cities, with Emirates SkyCargo.
Ethiopian Airlines
The company added a new Boeing 737 MAX 8 from Boeing’s Everett (PAE) factory. The aircraft, registered ET-BAN, arrived in Addis Ababa last January 14th with a stopover in Dublin.
According to our database, the MAX entered service on January 15th covering flight ET 939 to N’Djamena.
Fleet
- Airbus A350-900: 20
- Boeing 737-700: 3
- Boeing 737-800: 11
- Boeing 737 MAX 8: 16
- Boeing 767-300: 3
- Boeing 777-200: 6
- Boeing 777-300(ER): 4
- Boeing 777(F): 10
- DHC-8-400: 31
Etihad
Starting May 1st, Etihad will resume services between Abu Dhabi and Nairobi, a route it has had suspended since late 2021. The carrier will have a daily flight with Airbus A320 jets, in line with its website.
Daily
- EY 767 Abu Dhabi AUH 09:05 · 13:15 NBO Nairobi
- EY 768 Nairobi NBO 18:10 · 00:20+1 AUH Abu Dhabi
FlyAO (Fly Angola)
The Luanda-based airline plans to start flights to São Tomé and Príncipe from February 29th. FlyAO schedules two services a week on 50-seat Embraer 145s As listed on its reservation system.
Thursday and Sunday
- EQ 001 Luanda LAD 18:55 · 20:00 TMS São Tomé
- EQ 002 São Tomé TMS 20:50 · 23:55 LAD Luanda
flydubai
Last January 17th, flydubai inaugurated its regular operations to Mombasa, Kenya. The United Arab Emirates airline will fly to/from Dubai with Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, four weekly.
Monday and Friday
- FZ 1289 Dubai DXB 16:00 · 20:25 MBA Mombasa
- FZ 1290 Mombasa MBM 21:25 · 03:55+1 DXB Dubai
Wednesday and Sunday
- FZ 1289 Dubai DXB 09:20 · 13:55 MBM Mombasa
- FZ 1290 Mombasa MBM 14:55 · 21:30 DXB Dubai
flydubai routes to Africa
- Addis Ababa (ADD): 7 weekly · Boeing 737-800
- Alexandria (HBE): 9 weekly · B738/B7M8
- Asmara (ASM): 8 weekly · B738/B7M8
- Dar-es-Salaam (DAR): 7 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8 – via ZNZ
- Djibouti (JIB): 3 weekly · Boeing 737-800
- Entebbe (EBB): 10 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8
- Giza (SPX): 7 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8
- Hargeisa (HGA): 6 weekly · B738/B7M8
- Juba (JUB): 3 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 9
- Mogadishu (MGQ): 4 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8
- Mombasa (MBA): 4 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8
- Zanzibar (ZNZ): 19 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8
Gulf Air
The company will inaugurate seasonal services between Bahrain and Al Ula, Saudi Arabia, on February 3rd. In accordance with its website, Gulf Air will operate twice a week using the 174-seat Airbus A320neo.
Wednesday
- GF 191 Bahrain BAH 10:40 · 13:00 ULH Al Ula
- GF 192 Al Ula ULH 13:45 · 15:35 BAH Bahrain
Saturday
- GF 191 Bahrain BAH 15:10 · 17:30 ULH Al Ula
- GF 192 Al Ula ULH 18:15 · 20:05 BAH Bahrain
Flights will not be available between March 7th and April 9th.
Kenya Airways
Beginning March 31st, Kenya Airways will expand its services between Nairobi and Bujumbura, Burundi. Currently, with Embraer 190 airplanes, the airline offers a daily flight on this route.
Monday, Wednesday and Sunday
- KQ 460 Nairobi NBO 07:35 · 08:15 BJM Bujumbura
- KQ 461 Bujumbura BJM 09:15 · 11:55 NBO Nairobi
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday
- KQ 464 Nairobi NBO 13:00 · 13:40 BJM Bujumbura
- KQ 465 Bujumbura BJM 14:40 · 17:20 NBO Nairobi
New flight
Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday
- KQ 468 Nairobi NBO 23:30 · 00:10+1 BJM Bujumbura
Monday, Wednesday and Friday
- KQ 469 Bujumbura BJM 02:30 · 05:10 NBO Nairobi
Kuwait Airways
The airline will boost operations to Vienna as of June 14th. This route, which operates from the country’s capital, is seasonal, and starts 12 days before this increase.
Kuwait Airways will expand from three to four services per week.
Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday
- KU 177 Kuwait City KWI 09:55 · 15:05 VIE Vienna
- KU 178 Vienna VIE 16:05 · 21:05 KWI Kuwait City
On June 14th, a Friday flight will be added.
Oman Air
Effective March 31st, Oman Air is scheduling reductions on some of its routes to Asia. These are:
- Bangkok (BKK): from 18 to 14 weekly · Boeing 787-9
- Kuala Lumpur (KUL): from 8 to 4 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8
- Phuket (HKT): from 7 to 4 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8
Qatar Airways
The company has changed the aircraft used on the Doha – Luanda route since January 18th. Qatar used to operate with the 254-seat Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, and switched to Airbus A330-300s, which offer 51 more seats.
The frequency remains the same.
Thursday
- QR 1489 Doha DOH 09:00 · 15:05 LAD Luanda
Friday
- QR 1490 Luanda LAD 12:35 · 22:50 DOH Doha
Royal Jordanian
A few weeks after Gulf Air’s start-up to Al Ula, Royal Jordanian will begin operations to the Saudi Arabian city from Amman.
The flights, which are scheduled year-round, will be offered twice weekly with Embraer 195 aircraft.
Tuesday and Friday · eff Feb 16th
- RJ 712 Amman AMM 05:30 · 07:10 ULH Al Ula
- RJ 713 Al Ula ULH 08:10 · 09:50 AMM Amman
Routes from/to Al Ula airport
- Amman (AMM): 2 weekly · Royal Jordanian
- Bahrain (BAH): 2 weekly · Gulf Air
- Cairo (CAI): 2 weekly · Flynas
- Dammam (DMM): 2 weekly · Flynas
- Doha (DOH): 2 weekly · Qatar
- Dubai (DXB): 2 weekly · flydubai
- Jeddah (JED): 6 weekly · Saudia
- Riyadh (RUH): 4 weekly · Flynas
- Riyadh (RUH): 4 weekly · Saudia
Saudia
The airline will boost its seating capacity on the Jeddah – Birmingham route by increasing flights with Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner jets.
It currently has three services a week, two on 787-9s and the remaining on 787-10.
Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday
- SV 253 Jeddah JED 08:10 · 12:40 BHX Birmingham
- SV 254 Birmingham BHX 14:30 · 22:45 JED Jeddah
Saudia, from March 31st, will start operating two weekly flights with 787-10s and the other with a 787-9.
Seats per aircraft
- Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner: 298
- Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner: 357
Somon Air
The company will expand its services to the Middle East in February, with the launch of two new routes from Khudzhand, in Tajikistan.
Both segments will be operated with Boeing 737-800 aircraft configured for 189 passengers.
South African Airways
Effective April 28th, South African will inaugurate flights between Johannesburg and Perth. The carrier will operate three weekly with Airbus A340-300 jets.
Australia will be South African Airways’ second intercontinental market after Brazil, where it offers services to/from Sao Paulo.
Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday
- SA 280 Johannesburg JNB 20:55 · 12:20+1 PER Perth
Monday, Wednesday and Friday
- SA 281 Perth PER 14:40 · 19:35 JNB Johannesburg
South African will be the only company with operations on this route.
Qantas offers five services per week between Sydney and Johannesburg on the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, in terms of the Australia – South Africa market.
World2Fly
The airline will commence seasonal flights between Spain and Tanzania from June 28th. According to its website, World2Fly will have a weekly service using Airbus A330-300 aircraft until early September.
Thursday
- 2W 6843 Madrid MAD 21:00 · 07:30+1 ZNZ Zanzibar
Friday
- 2W 6844 Zanzibar ZNZ 09:30 · 17:55 MAD Madrid
Cover photo: Goncalo Guimaraes – JetPhotos (Zanzibar, Tanzania).
The post Africa and Middle East route updates – January 2024 appeared first on Flightradar24 Blog.