Brussels Airlines nggawe layanan udara ing Afrika

Following Brussels Airlines’ acquisition of another Airbus A330-300, the following added destinations in Africa will be coming on line from the middle of 2010 onwards: Accra, Ghana; Cotonou, Benin; Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; and Lome, Togo. This development about the likelihood of getting an added A330 was first reported here following a visit to Brussels in December, when the airline’s top management all but confirmed these plans when asked directly at the time.

The new destinations will also create extra jobs for over 100 staff, mostly deployed at the new destination offices, for ground handling, technical support, and as crew on the new aircraft. This will bring the Brussels Airlines destinations in Africa to 18, further cementing their claim to be offering one of the most comprehensive networks from Europe to Africa, especially when adding the code shared flights between Lufthansa and Brussels Airlines.

To further support these extra long-haul flights, an added frequency between Paris and Brussels will be introduced, linking into these departures, as will incidentally extra flights from London to Brussels.

Hopes for more flights into Eastern Africa, however, have not been dashed completely, as apparently no sooner than the new Airbus had been signed up for, a fresh evaluation is already underway for the purchase or lease of yet another A330 to expand the airline’s Africa network even further, this time in Eastern and Central Africa, as the world economy continues to recover from the worst recession in recent history and demand for seats to Africa is on the rise again. This added extra aircraft, has a usually very reliable source under strict condition of anonymity pointed out, would then also provide backup for periods of heavy maintenance of one of the other long-haul Airbuses or be available in cases of one of their rare technical problems, supporting on-time departures.