We conclude the December world aviation market update with the post about Africa and the Middle East. To see the previous editions, you can click on the following links:
United States and Canada – December 2023.
Latin America – December 2023.
Europe – December 2023.
Asia and Oceania – December 2023.
Regarding routes, we can highlight the important expansion that Ryanair will have in Morocco, in the international sector as well as in the domestic market, with flights within the country.
In addition, between June and July 2024, Qatar Airways will begin two new connections to Europe from Doha’s Hamad International Airport. In both cases, these will be operated by Boeing 787s.
On the other hand, concerning the addition of aircraft to the airlines, Ibom Air, a Nigerian company based in Uyo, incorporated its first Airbus A220-300, which arrived from Canada.
This is a major development for Ibom Air’s fleet, planning to add two more by 2024. Apart from the A220s, the airline has Airbus A320s and CRJ-900s.
Air Algérie
According to its website, Air Algérie postpones the start of operations to Ethiopia to 2024. The company had planned to inaugurate non-stop services with its Airbus A330 last December 15th, but finally did not start.
Beginning in April, Air Algérie plans to launch flights on this route with some changes, as these will be operated using Boeing 737-800 aircraft and making a stopover in N’Djamena, Chad, in both directions. The schedule is as follows:
Monday and Friday
AH 5370 Algiers ALG 10:45 · 14:55 NDJ N’Djamena
AH 5370 N’Djamena NDJ 15:55 · 21:55 ADD Addis Ababa
AH 5371 Addis Ababa ADD 22:55 · 00:55+1 NDJ N’Djamena
AH 5371 N’Djamena NDJ 01:25+1 · 05:35+1 ALG Algiers
Air Arabia
As of January 10th, 2024, Air Arabia will commence services between Sharjah and Kabul, Afghanistan. The carrier will offer daily operation with Airbus A320-200s, as detailed on its website.
Daily
G9 718 Sharjah SHJ 04:25 · 07:50 KBL Kabul
G9 719 Kabul KBL 08:50 · 12:05 SHJ Sharjah
Air Cairo
The inaugural Air Cairo flight from Aswan arrived in Jeddah at 12:45 local time on December 20th. The airline will operate a weekly service on 180-seat Airbus A320 aircraft.
Wednesday
SM 479 Aswan ASW 10:10 · 12:45 JED Jeddah
SM 480 Jeddah JED 13:55 · 14:50 ASW Aswan
Air Cairo routes from Jeddah
Map by gcmap.com
Alexandria (HBE): 12 weekly · Airbus A320
Assiut (ATZ): 7 weekly · Airbus A320
Aswan (ASW): 1 weekly · Airbus A320
Cairo (CAI): 22 weekly · Airbus A320
Luxor (LXR): 2 weekly · Airbus A320
Sohag (HMB): 6 weekly · Airbus A320
In the case of Aswan, Abu Simbel, Cairo and Jeddah are the carrier’s connections.
EGYPTAIR
The company will have changes in its Cairo – Juba operations in April 2024. At present, EGYPTAIR offers three weekly services, which will be reduced to two.
Monday, Wednesday and Friday · currently
MS 859 Cairo CAI 09:40 · 14:30 JUB Juba
MS 860 Juba JUB 15:30 · 20:45 CAI Cairo
During April, it will not operate on Wednesdays. The current frequency will return in May.
Emirates
As of June 1st, 2024, Emirates will resume flights to Nice with Airbus A380-800s. The airline currently operates once daily on Boeing 777-300(ER) jets.
Daily · no changes
EK 077 Dubai DXB 08:45 · 13:40 NCE Nice
EK 078 Nice NCE 15:55 · 00:10+1 DXB Dubai
Lyon, Nice and Paris are Emirates’ destinations in France.
Ethiopian Airlines
A new Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 arrived in Addis Ababa last December 17th. The aircraft has the registration ET-BAL and landed from Everett via Dublin.
Ethiopian reaches 14 Boeing 737 MAXs in its fleet, and shortly plans to add another, which will be registered ET-BAN.
Fleet
Airbus A350-900: 20
Boeing 737-700: 4
Boeing 737-800: 11
Boeing 737 MAX 8: 14
Boeing 767-300: 3
Boeing 777-200: 6
Boeing 777-300(ER): 4
Boeing 777(F): 10
Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner: 19
Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner: 10
De Havilland Canada DHC-8-400: 31
Illustrative photo (this is not the 737 MAX ET-BAL).
Etihad
The carrier will increase its services between Abu Dhabi and Barcelona from March 31st, 2024. Etihad offers seven opartions a week with Boeing 787-9 and Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner aircraft.
Daily
EY 49 Abu Dhabi AUH 02:50 · 07:05 BCN Barcelona
EY 50 Barcelona BCN 10:25 · 19:30 AUH Abu Dhabi
Wednesday, Friday and Sunday · new
EY 113 Abu Dhabi AUH 14:30 · 19:35 BCN Barcelona
EY 114 Barcelona BCN 21:45 · 06:05+1 AUH Abu Dhabi
FastJet
In early November, FastJet boosted its flight frequency between Bulawayo and Johannesburg. The company increased from 7 to 12 weekly services.
Flights will be performed on 50-seat Embraer 145 planes.
Daily
FN 8664 Johannesburg JNB 16:15 · 17:35 BUQ Bulawayo
FN 8664 Bulawayo BUQ 18:10 · 19:35 JNB Johannesburg
Daily except Saturday and Sunday · new
FN 8662 Johannesburg JNB 06:50 · 08:10 BUQ Bulawayo
FN 8661 Bulawayo BUQ 08:50 · 10:10 JNB Johannesburg
flyadeal
Saudi Arabia’s low-cost carrier added a new Airbus A320neo to its fleet in the beginning of December. The aircraft, registered as HZ-FBF, arrived in Jeddah from Toulouse.
The A320neo entered service on December 12th, being Jeddah – Dammam its first scheduled flight (F3 317).
Fleet
Airbus A320-200: 11
Airbus A320neo: 21
Illustrative photo (this is not the A320neo HZ-FBF).
flydubai
Effective June 16th, 2024, flydubai plans to resume services between Dubai and Izmir, Türkiye. The company schedules three weekly flights on Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets.
Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday
FZ 629 Dubai DXB 12:35 · 16:20 ADB Izmir
FZ 630 Izmir ADB 17:20 · 23:00 DXB Dubai
flydubai routes to Türkiye
Map by gcmap.com
Ankara (ESB): 2 weekly
Istanbul (IST): 14 weekly
Istanbul (SAW): 14 weekly
Gulf Air
On Thursday, December 28th, Gulf Air took delivery of the Airbus A321neo with registration A9C-XD, the 12th in its fleet.
The airline made an order for 17 A321neo in 2016, with the first of them being incorporated in August 2020.
Gulf Air’s Airbus A321neo
A9C-NA
A9C-NB
A9C-NC
A9C-ND
A9C-NE
A9C-NF
A9C-NG
A9C-NH
A9C-XA
A9C-XB
A9C-XC
A9C-XD
The A9C-N* aircraft have 166 seats, while the A9C-X* have 192.
Illustrative photo (this is not the A321neo A9C-XD).
Ibom Air
Last December 8th, the first Airbus A220 for Ibom Air arrived in Nigeria from Montreal with a stopover in Toulouse. The plane is currently in Uyo (QUO) awaiting its entry into service.
Ibom Air is scheduled to add two more Airbus A220s during the second half of 2024, and seven more later.
The Nigerian carrier’s fleet consists of the following:
Airbus A220-300: 1
Airbus A320-200: 2
CRJ-900: 5
The image is from Aviation Toulouse on X (formerly Twitter)
Kuwait Airways
The company confirmed that it will add capacity on its Kuwait City – Málaga route, which will start on June 16th, 2024 as it is a seasonal service.
Kuwait Airways was scheduled to operate with Airbus A330-800neo, but will use its Boeing 777-300(ER).
The Boeing 777s have 99 more seats than the A330neo.
Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
KU 121 Kuwait City KWI 07:40 · 13:40 AGP Málaga
KU 122 Málaga AGP 15:10 · 22:30 KWI Kuwait City
Barcelona and Madrid are the airline’s current destinations in Spain.
Qatar Airways
The carrier will launch two new routes from Doha between June and July 2024. In both cases, these will be cities in Europe, served by 213-seat Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft.
Hamburg · Daily
Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
QR 089 Doha DOH 08:35 · 14:10 HAM Hamburg
QR 090 Hamburg HAM 15:40 · 22:40 DOH Doha
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
QR 091 Doha DOH 02:15 · 07:50 HAM Hamburg
QR 092 Hamburg HAM 09:20 · 16:20 DOH Doha
Venice · Daily
QR 125 Doha DOH 09:00 · 14:20 VCE Venice
QR 126 Venice VCE 16:50 · 23:10 DOH Doha
Hamburg will be the company’s fifth destination in Germany, and will reach three in Italy with Venice.
Royal Air Maroc
For the 2024 peak season, Royal Air Maroc will boost its flights to the United States and Canada during June and July. The services will be carried out with Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets.
Schedule
Casablanca (CMN) – Miami (MIA): 3 to 4 weekly · July 16th, 2024
Casablanca (CMN) – Montreal (YUL): 12 to 14 weekly · June 13th, 2024
Casablanca (CMN) – New York (JFK): 13 to 14 weekly · July 18th, 2024
Casablanca (CMN) – Washington (IAD): 5 to 6 weekly · June 22nd, 2024
Royal Jordanian
The airline plans to begin flights to Stockholm with Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft from March 11th, 2024. Royal Jordanian currently operates with Airbus A320s and Airbus A321s.
Monday and Thursday
RJ 123 Amman AMM 11:00 · 14:15 ARN Stockholm
RJ 124 Stockholm ARN 15:15 · 22:00 AMM Amman
In line with its website, the Monday flight will be provided with the Dreamliners.
Ryanair
The low cost carrier confirmed it will have a major expansion in Morocco starting in March 2024. Operations will be performed with its Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737 MAX 8-200, according to their website:
Agadir
Birmingham (BHM): 4 weekly · April 1st, 2024
Bournemouth (BOH): 2 weekly · April 1st, 2024
Edinburgh (EDI): 2 weekly · April 1st, 2024
Fez (FEZ): 2 weekly · April 1st, 2024
Oujda (OUD): 2 weekly · April 2nd, 2024
Tangier (TNG): 2 weekly · April 2nd, 2024
Beni Mellal
Girona (GRO): 3 weekly · May 3rd, 2024
Fez
Zaragoza (ZAZ): 2 weekly · April 3rd, 2024
Marrakech
Birmingham (BHM): 4 weekly · March 31st, 2024
Bristol (BRS): 2 weekly · April 1st, 2024
Errachidia (ERH): 2 weekly · March 31st, 2024
Faro (FAO): 3 weekly · March 31st, 2024
Fez (FEZ): 4 weekly · March 31st, 2024
La Rochelle (LRH): 2 weekly · June 4th, 2024
Lanzarote (ACE): 2 weekly · June 3rd, 2024
Leeds (LBA): 2 weekly · March 31st, 2024
Milan (MXP): 4 weekly · April 1st, 2024
Murcia (RMU): 2 weekly · April 3rd, 2024
Oujda (OUD): 3 weekly · March 31st, 2024
Tangier (TNG): 3 weekly · March 31st, 2024
Tenerife (TFS): 2 weekly · June 2nd, 2024
Tetuan (TTU): 2 weekly · March 31st, 2024
Tangier
Barcelona (BCN): 3 weekly · May 2nd, 2024
Carcassonne (CCF): 3 weekly · May 1st, 2024
Eindhoven (EIN): 2 weekly · May 4th, 2024
Essaouira (ESU): 2 weekly · May 4th, 2024
Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden (FKB): 2 weekly · April 1st, 2024
Lisbon (LIS): 3 weekly · May 2nd, 2024
Manchester (MAN): 2 weekly · April 1st, 2024
Memmingen (FMM): 2 weekly · March 31st, 2024
Ouarzazate (OZZ): 2 weekly · May 4th, 2024
Oujda (OUD): 3 weekly · May 2nd, 2024
Porto (OPO): 2 weekly · April 2nd, 2024
Safair
Starting April 2nd, 2024, Safair plans to commence flights to Kruger Mpumalanga. Operations will be carried out from Cape Town, twice a week.
Tuesday and Saturday
FA 670 Cape Town CPT 09:00 · 11:30 MQP Kruger Mpumalanga
FA 671 Kruger Mpumalanga MQP 12:05 · 14:50 CPT Cape Town
Nelspruit Kruger Mpumalanga Airport has the following routes:
Map by gcmap.com
Cape Town (CPT): 13 weekly · Airlink
Durban (DUR): 6 weekly · Airlink
Johannesburg (JNB): 36 weekly · Airlink
Livingstone (LVI): 4 weekly · Airlink
Victoria Falls (VFA): 6 weekly · Fastjet
Vilankulo (VNX): 4 weekly · Airlink
Saudia
As of January 5th, 2024, Saudia will increase its services between Jeddah and London Gatwick. The Saudi airline operates this route with Boeing 787-9 and Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner aircraft.
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday
SV 101 Jeddah JED 08:15/20/25 · 12:10/15/20 LGW London
SV 100 London LGW 13:35/45/55 · 22:25/35/45 JED Jeddah
The company will add a new flight on Fridays.
South African Airways
The carrier made a minor change to its schedule between Sao Paulo and Cape Town effective December 6th. South African inaugurated services in late October, marking the airline’s return to Brazil after almost four years.
Tuesday and Saturday
SA 226 Cape Town CPT 12:55 · 16:35 GRU Sao Paulo
Saturday · no changes
SA 227 Sao Paulo GRU 18:05 · 06:40+1 CPT Cape Town
Wednesday · flight during the night
SA 227 Sao Paulo GRU 00:05 · 12:40 CPT Cape Town
In addition to Cape Town, SAA operates two weekly flights between Johannesburg and Sao Paulo with the same aircraft (Airbus A330).
Tunisair
The company intends to resume operations between Tunis and Lisbon from May 6th, 2024. In line with its website, Tunisair will fly once weekly with the following schedule:
Monday
TU 318 Tunis TUN 19:40 · 22:30 LIS Lisbon
TU 319 Lisbon LIS 23:40 · 02:20+1 TUN Tunis
Services will be performed on Airbus A319s.
Cover photo: Arjun Sarup – JetPhotos (Dubai).
The post Africa and Middle East route updates – December 2023 appeared first on Flightradar24 Blog.
