ETHIOIPIA: Ethiopia Airlines To Fly To Chengdu

Effective 03rd of June will Ethiopian Airlines launch their fifth destination in China, when nonstop flights between Addis Ababa and Chengdu will commence.

Using a two class Boeing B787 will the initial three flights per week leave the Ethiopian capital every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, returning to Addis Ababa on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Departure time is set from ADD at ten minutes past midnight, giving connecting passengers from across Africa ample time to connect to the Chengdu service. Landing of the return flights is scheduled for 06.20 hrs (a.m.), again providing instant and short wait onward connections to the rest of the continent.

Chengdu is China's seventh largest city and a key industrial, logistics, trade, IT and transport hub.

Notably does Ethiopian in conjunction with Star Alliance partner Air China then offer a range of onward destinations beyond Chengdu for passengers destined for such cities as Shenzhen, Kunming, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Wuhan, Changsha, and Urumqi.

Said the airline's CEO Mr. Tewolde Gebremariam when making the announcement earlier today: 'We are glad to launch services to Chengdu, our fifth gateway to The Republic of China. Since our first flight 43 years ago, China has been a key market and it is now the largest per country market in our system. Using the geocentric location advantage of our hub in Addis Ababa we are connecting China, the world's second largest economy and Africa’s biggest trade and investment partner, with 52 cities in the continent of Africa.

With the addition of Chengdu, we shall offer the best and fastest connectivity options with a total of 34 weekly flights to China, operated with the latest and most comfortable B787 and B777 aircraft. Our Chinese customers will also enjoy seamless connection on Ethiopian's vast intra African network and further to São Paulo in Brazil.

Ethiopian is investing to make Addis Ababa a Chinese friendly hub airport for the continent. We now have Mandarin translators and signage available at the airport transit area and in the Cloud Nine Business Class Lounge. Chinese New Year is also marked every year at Addis Ababa Airport'.

Ethiopian was the first African airline and the fourth in the world to fly to China as early as 1973. In addition to the three weekly flights to Chengdu to be launched in June, Ethiopian currently also operates daily nonstop flights to Beijing, 10 weekly nonstop services to Guangzhou and 6 weekly nonstop flights to Hong Kong.

In a related development is the decision now nearing which manufacturer will provide the next generation of smaller single aisle jets to Ethiopian Airlines. Speculation is mounting that the Bombardier's CS Series - Ethiopian is already successfully flying 15 Bombardier Q400NG's - may become the aircraft of choice.

Ethiopian's aviation academy already operates a simulator for the Bombardier Q400 and also offers maintenance services for this aircraft type, making a valid case to further strengthen the relationship between the airline group and Canadian manufacturer Bombardier.

TANZANIA: With New Bombardier Q400NG, Air Tanzania Will Fly More Routes

Air Tanzania, and under orders by both President Magufuli and his transport minister to show results or else, has wasted no time to put the two new Bombardier Q400NG aircraft to good use.

The airline presently serves Hahaya / Comoros, the only international destination Air Tanzania flies to, three times a week every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, but had notably cranked up domestic destinations.

Arusha's municipal field is now served six times a week, daily with the exception of Wednesdays, according to the latest scheduling information, avoiding for now the more costly and distant Kilimanjaro International Airport which is more than 50 kilometres from the city of Arusha.

Mwanza, Tanzania's second largest city, is now served daily again with a mid morning departure from Dar es Salaam. Kigoma is another destinations ATCL is now flying to again, according to schedule information five times a week.

The Spice Island of Zanzibar too is back on line with five flights a week but it is anticipated that once flight loadfactors have grown this destination will see flights every day of the week.

Other destinations are under planning, among them a likely return to Mtwara, Tanzania's so called 'Gas Capital' but also to Mbeya - this airport being a challenge as a result of often having no fuel.

In the region are planners said to be eying Nairobi again as well as Entebbe, since earlier this month Fastjet withdrew from both routes leaving a glaring gap in connectivity to Kenya and Uganda.

In a related development has the airline now also advertised for recruitment of trainees for cabin crews, a further indicator that when the third new Bombardier Q400NG arrives, to be followed by two Bombardier CS300's, there will be not only new destinations served by also jobs created in the process.

TANZANIA: Government Acquires 2 Bombardier Q400NG Aircrafts For Air Tanzania

Bombardier has concluded an add on deal with the Tanzanian government to their delivery of two Q400NG's at the end of September.

Pen was put to paper yesterday for the delivery of a third Bombardier Q400NG in a single class configuration but notably did the brand new C-Series get an entry into Africa when two of the CS300 variants were ordered at the same time.
Only days ago was the first such CS300 delivered to global launch customer AirBaltic after Swiss, part of the Lufthansa Group, had taken delivery of their CS100 variant at the end of June also a global launch customer.

The delivery dates for the two CS300 jets are yet to be fully confirmed but the third Q400NG might join the fleet already in H1 of next year. This will then facilitate the resumption of flights to more domestic and regional destinations before the CS300's, the most economical aircraft on the market in its class, will then allow for the rollout of more African routes.

This deal comes at a time when local rivals Precision Air and Fastjet in Tanzania remain in loss making territory and coincides with Fastjet suspending their flights from Dar es Salaam to Entebbe and Nairobi, giving Air Tanzania unexpected openings to take on such vacated routes with smaller and more efficient aircraft.

The sale of the first ever CS series aircraft to Africa by Bombardier is a coup of sorts over other manufacturers, in particular Embraer and will probably help to open the African market for such jets in the 100 - 150 seat market.

In a related development was it also learned that the Tanzanian government is in talks with Boeing over the purchase of a Boeing B787 Dreamliner to allow a revived Air Tanzania launch intercontinental flights similar to what is presently taking place in Rwanda, where the government, through RwandAir, has however opted to buy two Airbus A330 models.

This now also makes the air very thin for a revival of Air Uganda as the regional market appears saturated, given the status of Kenya Airways as regional force, the emergence of RwandAir as a serious and fast growing African contender already serving Uganda through fifth freedom right flights and a revived Air Tanzania with eventually 6 or seven brand new aircraft which will, in combination of the three, leave any newcomer trailing in their wake.

TANZANIA: Precision Air In Promotion To Attract Passengers

Precision Air, one of Tanzania's leading commercial airlines and the only one quoted on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange, has launched a consumer promotion to award their passengers ahead of the upcoming the holiday season.

There will be a total of 100 tickets for grabs during promotion period and there will be 10 weekly draws conducted over the coming two months.Each of the 10 lucky winners will get return tickets to any destination within the airline’s network which includes a range of domestic destinations but also the Comoros and Nairobi.

Explaining about the promotion, the Corporate Communications and Marketing Manager Ms. Azda Nkullo said that every passenger flying with Precision Air has an equal chance of winning a free ticket.

'We are celebrating 23 years of service and in doing so we are going to give out 100 free tickets to our esteemed customers as our expression gratitude for their support throughout the years that we have been in operation'.

Ms. Nkullo explained further that to participate, one needs to purchase a Precision Air ticket to any of its destinations, fill in the coupon at check-in counter and drop it in the lucky-dip box at the boarding gate.

'We are going to run a draw every Monday and announce our weekly ten winners for 10 weeks consecutively. We want our customers to take advantage of this promotion in preparation for the coming holiday afterall its is the season to be gifting' she added.

Corporate Affairs Manager Mr. Hillary Mremi then said passengers can easily participate in the Fly and Win promotion by taking advantage of the online promotion fares (Shavu La Dotcom) for travels between Dar – Arusha, Dar- Kilimanjaro, Musoma –Mwanza and Mwanza – Bukoba with the price starting from only Tsh.80,000/-.

He also added that all the online booking and online payments to any of Precision Air destination will enjoy a further 10% discount.

Precision Air with this initiative is clearly reacting to the revival of main rival Air Tanzania which has started to relaunch operations on a number of domestic routes after receiving two brand new Bombardier Q400NG aircraft and with competition heating up on the Tanzanian domestic market it will be the most innovative, most affordable and most on time airline which will see the most passengers board their flights.

Precision Air was established in 1993 as a private charter air transport company operating a five-seater piper Aztec aircraft. Its initial line of business mainly focused on providing connections for tourists visiting the rich natural attractions of Serengeti National Park & Ngorongoro Crater in northern Tanzania, the Zanzibar Island in the Indian Ocean and other parts of the country from Arusha town as its base.

With 23 years in service, Precision Air has grown and become a reputable airline in East Africa region and Africa at large, operating to 11 domestic destinations and two (2) regional ones, connecting passengers to many more destinations within Africa and abroad.