Eritrea ITB

Eritrea will participate in the world’s largest tourism exhibition ITB in Berlin taking place March 10-14.

Organizers are expecting 11,000 companies and organizations from over 180 countries keen to promote their tourism products.

Over 30 African countries will promote their national tourism products and destinations. Despite the global economic crisis, Africa is enjoying the world’s highest growth rates for international arrivals.

Air traffic to Africa increased in the first quarter 2009 by 33 percent fuelled by growing business, government tourism investments and improved quality standards.

Euromonitor International has estimated that 42 million international tourist are going to visit Africa in 2010 with the World Cup in South Africa, increasing business and tourism, and a growing African Diaspora community contributing to that.

In 2007 Eritrea started to actively participate in the ITB together with Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Niger and Benin. During last year’s ITB organizers introduced Eritrea with the following statement,

“Although the country faces numerous hardships, it paradoxically remains one of Africa’s most peaceful, secure and welcoming destinations. Eritrea’s nine colourful ethnic groups are diverse and individual, and are a major highlight.”

The stand of Eritrea will be in Hall 20./127 for more information visit  ITB

Eritrea’s  Exhibitor profile reads as follows:

LOCATION: N. E. Africa, by the Red Sea. Latitudes 12° to 18° N; Longitudes 36° to 44° E.

Eritrea MapAREA: 124,330 Sq. km.

POPULATION: 3.5 to 4 million.

RELIGIONS: Christianity & Islam.

LANGUAGES: Tigrinya & Arabic; English & Italian spoken.

HISTORY: Former Italian and British colony, federated with Ethiopia. Later annexed by Ethiopia, but liberated in 1991 after 30-year war.

CLIMATE: Climatic Zones – Highland plateau (2,000m.) including capital, Asmara, 10° to 22°; Western lowlands, cool to warm; Eastern coastal plain, pleasant in winter months & hot in summer. Rainfall – Short rains in March & April. Longer heavier showers with occasional hailstorms from late June to end-August.

GETTING THERE: By air through Cairo, Dubai, Frankfurt, Khartoum, Nairobi and Sana’a. By land through Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti by sea through Red Sea ports of Massawa and Assab.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS: Passport with appropriate visa obtainable from any Eritrean Diplomatic Mission abroad. No visa required for i.) Employees of air/shipping lines represented in Eritrea travelling on duty; ii.) Boat tourists arriving in Massawa and Assab for 48 hours, but shore pass required. Visa on arrival available to Group Visitors, upon prior notification through travel agents or tour operators in Eritrea.

CUSTOMS: Personal effects admitted free. Duty free allowance of 1 litre alcoholic beverages, 200 cigarettes and ½ litre perfume. Fire arms prohibited.

Egyptair

Egyptair has increased the number of weekly flights to Asmara, Eritrea from three to four flights for the summer schedule 2010. The fourth frequency will be introduced by the end of May 2010 departing from Cairo International Airport Terminal 3 to Asmara International.

The airline will operate Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays with Airbus A320 aircrafts and is promoting the route on its website.

Roundtrip special offers to Asmara are available from 2329 Egyptian Pound or 300 Euros according to the airline’s current promotional campaign for Asmara on;

http://www.egyptair.com/English/Pages/SpecialOffersDetails.aspx?OfferId=262.

Egyptair is joining other African airlines in the battle for the growing African aviation market. Speaking to reporters at a media event in Cairo last October, new EgyptAir group chairman and chief executive Hussein Massoud said the airline was restructuring its network.

“We have already finished the first phase and now we are working on the second phase to enlarge our network, with the co-operation of Star Alliance.

We are concentrating our co-operation with Star Alliance to be a hub for Africa. We have several points in east Africa and have more (to follow) and are selecting some destinations in west Africa.

Continental

United States based Continental Airlines has entered into codeshare agreements with Lufthansa Airlines offering a wider range of destinations worldwide.

Houston based Continental Airlines will offer flights to Asmara on codeshare agreement with Lufthansa via Frankfurt. All Continental flights to and from Frankfurt will operate through its hub at Newark Liberty International Airport connecting to over 25 domestic airports in the United States.

Since last week, Continental flight numbers appear on 50 routes operated by Lufthansa, including the routing Frankfurt- Jeddah- Asmara. On the Continental home page lowest fares available start from approximately US$ 4500 for return flights departing in the next two months to Asmara. Continental operates flights to Frankfurt with a fleet of Boeing 767-400.

During a 16-month transition the airline changed its membership from the Skyteam Alliance to the Star Alliance group. Analysts, believe that this is the first step in a planned joint venture between Air Canada, Lufthansa, United and Continental.

“Since making the strategic decision 16 months ago to join Star Alliance, Continental has been intensely focused on making preparations for this change,” said Continental Chairman and CEO Larry Kellner in October. “For our customers, the change will be seamless and will deliver significantly improved travel opportunities.”

Middle Eastern carriers Yemenia and EgyptAir have avoided being included on the European Commission’s blacklist of banned airlines, having faced scrutiny over the past few months.

Yemenia’s case has been discussed by the air safety committee responsible for drawing up the blacklist, notably following the fatal loss of an Airbus A310 in June, but it has concluded that the airline should remain unfettered.

EgyptAir had also been warned of possible restrictions over concerns about the number of safety issues turning up during inspections. The carrier does not appear on the latest blacklist update, issued today.

But the revised list extends a European blanket ban to another three states – the Republic of Congo, Sao Tome and Principe, and Djibouti – after the identification of deficiencies in safety oversight by the national regulators. The extension means that practically all airlines from a total of 15 countries are forbidden from conducting European Union operations.

Ukrainian carriers have been lifted from the blacklist, although two of these – Ukraine Cargo Airways and Volare – were removed by default, having had their air operator’s certificates withdrawn.

Ukraine’s Motor-Sich Airlines has been removed from the list after the “receipt of certain information” from Ukrainian authorities, says the Commission.

It adds that Ukrainian Mediterranean Airlines (UM Air) has had restrictions partially lifted, but is still only allowed to operate a single Boeing MD-83 within Europe.

“We cannot afford any compromises in air safety,” says European transport commissioner Antonio Tajani.

“Our aim is not just to create a list of airlines that are dangerous. We are ready to help those countries to build up their technical and administrative capacity to guarantee the safety of civil aviation in their countries.”

Progress on addressing concerns at Angolan flag-carrier TAAG has also resulted in the carrier’s being permitted to operate four Boeing 737-700 aircraft on European services in addition to its Boeing 777s. Source: (RATI)

Massawa

Meals are available in all hotels. There are also hotels and guest houses in smaller towns whose prices are generally slightly lower than for those in the main centers.

When making reservations, check for service charges and sales taxes. Hotel bills must be paid in hard currency known as Nakfa. Credit cards are accepted in major hotels, airlines and majortravel agencies.

Foreign currencies can be exchanged at the Commercial Bank of Eritrea in Asmara which provides the best exchange rate, private exchange offices and major hotels. Source: (PR-inside)

Major Banks and hotels in Asmara and Massawa accept traveller’s cheques, US Dollar traveller’s cheques being the most recommended. Don’t hesitate to go out and taste the food and drink in the restaurants. Italian cuisine dominates in larger cities while Massawa is renowned for its excellent seafood, especially prawns and lobster.

National specialities include kitcha (thin bread from wheat), injera (a spongy pancake), tsebhi and alicha birsen while national drinks include bun (coffee), shahi (plain tea), swa (beer from local grain) and fruit juices. Get yourself gold and silver jewelery, woodcarvings, leather items, spears, drums, carpets and wicker goods. A certain amount of bargaining is expected in market places but prices in shops are usually fixed.

Finding cheap flights to Eritrea is not that easy, you need to do researching as well as planning ahead of time. Airfares are usually the most expensive part of a vacation trip, next to it would be hotel accommodations, this is why most of those who plan to visit the Eritrea would surely want to go after those cheap flights to Eritrea. Nevertheless, once you arrive in the country, most of the things you will find there have adequately cheap prices, like food, transportation, souvenir items, clothing stuffs, and other accessories you may want to buy, way much cheaper compared to buying the same things from other countries.

There are many specially trained professional Travel Agents will always help you to book a convenient flight to the Eritrea and Travelhouseuk.co.uk is one of them so just call them to book flights which will best suit your budget and travel needs.

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.

Asmara Tea

Marco Barbon travelled between 2006 and 2008 to Eritrea to make the pictures of his newly published book “Asmara Dream”. The book captures the timeless beauty of Asmara in Eritrea. The Author was born in Rome in 1972 and has a PHD in Asthetics of Photography from the Ecole Etudes en Science Sociales in Paris, France. He worked as a Photo Editor, Author and Film Director of a short film presented at the Italian Film Festival, Nice and at Cinema Le Latina, Paris.

Who is Marco Barbon?

I am an Italian photographer living and working in Paris. I was born in Rome but later moved to Paris the place of art, culture and inspiration.

What drives Marco Barbon?

The passion for travel, art and photography is what drives me. The places I visit and the things I see are my artwork. I try to capture them in a moment of time and space, revealing their beauty.

What is the subject of your work in Eritrea?

The subject of my book is the city of Asmara, more precisely that particular sensation of suspended time and subtle melancholy that struck me the first time I was there. The Italian flair and beauty of the city is something you can not forget after having visited Eritrea.

How did you find out about Eritrea?

Some friends who have visited the country some years ago told me about the beauty of Asmara and I was curious to visit it. So, I packed my things and got on the plane to see myself what they were talking about.

What do you think about Eritrea?

I think Eritrea is a very beautiful country. The tourism is potentially a great richness for the country, the people of Eritrea should continue to develop it because it has a great potential to help the country in the future.

What do you think of Eritreans?

Eritrean people are wonderful, I love them.

Which are your favourite photographs in “Asmara Dream”?

For me is basically impossible to say what are the « best photos » in the Book; it’s up to the reader to judge.

How many books of “Asmara Dream” have been printed?

We printed in total 1200 books. Out of this 600 books are in the Italian/English language and the remaining 600 are in the French / English language.

Will you visit Eritrea again? And what are your future projects?

I would like to visit Eritrea again – I hope in a near future. Now I have many friends there, I miss them very much. I am planning to continue my photographic work in other countries. I have few other book projects.

Do you have a message for our Eritrean readers?

I have no real message for them but a question for them: How do you see and dream the future of your motherland?

Asmara Dream” can be purchased at:

Flydubai

Flydubai, Dubai’s first low cost airline, is going to fly to neighbouring Djibouti and add the second African destination to its network. The inaugural flight FZ601 touched down at Djibouti Ambouli International Airport this week.

The new service will operate three times per week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, departing Dubai at 0800hrs arriving at 1015hrs local time.

The return flight, FZ602, will leave 45 minutes later at 1100hrs and arrive back in Dubai at 1515hrs local time. Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO of Flydubai, said:

“One of the reasons Flydubai was set up was to operate to second tier cities that are currently underserved by airlines flying out of Dubai. While these cities may not be large enough markets for the bigger airlines, there is still a significant amount of traffic from these markets and we believe they will be important and profitable routes for Flydubai.”

Al Ghaith added, “Djibouti has long established commercial links with Dubai, including DP World, which operates the Port of Djibouti.”

He also said that as one of the very few airlines to offer direct flights to this relatively small destination, Flydubai anticipates strong demand from both the business and leisure markets.

With a population of just half a million people, Djibouti is roughly half the size of Abu Dhabi, with a land mass of 23,000 km2 encompassing desert, highlands and plateaus. Djibouti is a republic which was formed in 1977, when the country gained independence from France. The national languages are Arabic and French.

Bordered by Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia, Djibouti has a long history as a trading port and is strategically located on the Gulf of Aden.

Sudan Airways made its first flight from Kassala in Sudan to the Eritrean capital Asmara. According to the Sudan Tribune, the airline chose the occasion of the 18th anniversary of the independence of Eritrea to launch the first flight.

Sudan Airways was formed in 1947 and began as a subsidiary operation of  the Sudan Railways System. In 1954 the airline added its first international flights.

However, the airline had in the recent past some safety issues regarding accidents involving passenger fatalities. On 23 June 2008, the Sudanese CAA announced grounding of Sudan Airways citing the carrier’s failure to take corrective meassures following an audit of the airline.

In 2007 the company carried 500.000 passengers with a seat occupation of 50% and employed 1353 staff. Sudan Airways has a mixed fleet of 12 Aircraft consisting out of  4 Airbus, 1 Russian build Antonov,  2 Boeing and 7 smaller planes for regional operations (ATI).

The Airline has its major hub in Khartoum and is owned to 49% by the AREF Investment Group, 21 % by Faiha Holding Company and 30% by the Sudanese Government.

Last October, the managing director of Sudan Airways Ahmed Omer Abdelrahman announced big expansion planes and a fleet modernisation during the Arab Air Carriers Organisation conference in Tunis. The expansion plan was including the introduction of  long-haul flights to China and India by 2010.

sudan-airways

Sudan Airways http://www.sudanair.com/ is going to re- start flight operations to Asmara (Eritrea) from Khartoum. The airline operates a fleet of 13 aircraft and is owned to 49% by the AREF Investment Group, 21% by the Faiha Holding Company and the remaining 30% by the Sudanese Government. The first flight will operate on the 24th of May, which happens to be the Eritrean National Day. This will enable passengers to connect from London via Khartoum to Asmara Sudan Tribune.

Cairo International Airport, the second busiest airport in Africa after Johannesburg International Airport of South Africa, has finished construction and design of the new Terminal 3.  According to the airport Egyptair and all Star Alliance members will move to the new terminal in the coming months. Flights departing to Asmara Eritrea with Egyptair will change from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3 by the 17. June.2009. The new facilities are going to reduce the transfer times at Cairo Airport to 45 minutes for international flights. This will enable the airport to meet the increasing passenger demand, which uses Cairo as a transfer hub between Europe and Africa.

For the summer schedule 2009 Frankfurt Airport announced that Eritrean Airlines ceased flying to Frankfurt. So far Eritrean Aviation was dominated by Eritrean Airlines serving mainly Eritreans abroad visiting friends and relatives in their home country during summer holidays or Christmas.

 However, a second airline named Nasair came recently into spotlight enriching the Eritrean Aviation sector. Nasair was founded in 2006 in Eritrea with a more regional network than Eritrean Airlines.

The airline is part of the Sharjah-based Nasair Group, operating scheduled services linking Asmara with around half a dozen destinations within Eritrea and in Kenya, the Sudan and United Arab Emirates. It also offers charter services. Sister company Nasair Cargo offers world wide cargo charters from its base in Massawa. 

Most of the Nasair’s passenger traffic destined for Massawa comes from Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. For 2008 the share of Passengers originating from outside Eritrea and traveling to Massawa was split between those two countries. You can visit the airline at the  Nasairgroup homepage.

nasai-traffic-to-eritrea

Source: IATA 2009