Departures

Planning to visit Eritrea this winter? You will have several options to get there by air during the coming winter schedule 2009/10, which will start by the end of this month.

According to the latest update Eritrean Airlines, Nasair, Lufthansa, Egyptair, Yemenia and Sudan Airways will operate flights to Eritrea from various destinations.

The number of weekly departures to Eritrea shows a net decrease of two for the coming month of November compared to the same month last year. This is mainly due to the reduction of number of flights operated by Eritrean Airlines and Nasair.

Although Eritrean Airlines ceased operating flights from Asmara to major European cities, the national carrier continues to serve flights twice a week between Asmara and Jeddah. Eritrea’s second carrier Nasair will operate scheduled flights from Asmara to Assab, Cairo, Dubai, Rome, Jeddah, Khartoum and Massawa.

United Airways offers flights to Asmara under a code share agreement with Lufthansa from the United States via Frankfurt. The most consistent schedule is offered by Lufthansa, which will continue to fly three times a week from Frankfurt to Asmara via Jeddah.

In terms of price Egyptair is one of the cheapest options to fly to Eritrea, if tickets are booked well in advance. In comparison to the same period previous year, the Egyptian carrier has increased weekly frequency from two to three on its route from Cairo to Amara .

Egyptair is connecting major European cities such as Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Rome, Brussels, Vienna and London via Cairo to Asmara.

Yemenia is going to operate two days a week to Asmara from Sana. Sudan Airways has posted flights operating on Saturday and Wednesday from Khartoum to Asmara on its official home page.

Traffic to Eritrea’s main Airport Asmara remains strong with passenger numbers reaching 117000 in 2008, which is an increase compared to 2007 (RATI).

Latest figures show that air traffic on the continent is growing faster than in many other regions.

“We are keeping a presence in all traffic regions and cancelling flight connections only when alternatives are available to our passengers. At the same time, we are opening up new markets in Africa, for example, so as to harness new growth opportunities” explains Lufthansa board member Karl Ulrich Garnadt in a interview last week.

At the same time Lufthansa is going to expand on its long-haul routes to Africa by cooperating with Brussels Airlines starting this winter season on a code share basis. African economic growth prospects, as well as the up coming 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa, have caused a revival of many routes to Africa, which ceased many years ago due to low demand.

For many years Brussels Airlines has been developing a strong route network to African destinations long before other European carriers have realized the growth potential of African aviation. Lufthansa owns a 45% stake in Brussels Airlines and hopes to get a greater foothold in the African market through the current partnership and a possible future takeover of the Belgian carrier by 2011.

Eritrean Airlines Region

The recession and the economical slowdown is hurting the  African aviation sector at the most inconvenient time.

Just when it seemed that the sector was experiencing tremendous growth rates due to increased economical activity with the outside world, the recession made an abrupt end to it.

The growth motivated African avitaion to improve the quality, safety and service to provide the same standard as western carriers, due to increasing partnership with other non-African airline as well as the growing number of freight and passengers volumes. In early April European and African representatives have met to discuss the establishment of a common strategic framework for air transport safety (European Commission).

Early during the year in January African aviation traffic dropped by 2.6% according to the International Airline Transport Association (IATA).

Many African airlines are reducing capacity by cutting on routes from this year. Eritrean Airlines stopped flying from Asmara to Frankfurt (capitaleritrea), Air Namibia suspended flying to London, Air Senegal stopped operating at all and many other carriers took similar actions.

The near future does not look promising as demand for travel and freight is continuing to drop.

In addition IATA expressed concerns that the Swine Flu outbreak will further reduce demand when the timing could not be worse. The latest IATA statistics show that airline revenues declined by up to 20% for the month of March.

Eritrean Airlines

Frankfurt, Germany: From the start of the summer time table 2009 (29.03.2009) Eritrean Airlines will cease its operation for flights from Asmara to Frankfurt.

This was announced in a press release of Frankfurt Airport (FRAPORT). Eritrean Airlines used to serve the route for many years and Eritreans used to travel with the national carrier to visit relatives back home in Eritrea.

The peak travel period from Frankfurt was during the summer holidays from June until September, when Eritrean Airlines and Lufthansa could fill their flights and the market was big enough for two airlines. Why Eritrean Airlines has decided to stop flying is not clear yet. Lufthansa will now have a monopoly on Frankfurt-Asmara serving the market three times a week flights to Asmara via Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.