Emirates Airline expects to add at least 10 new routes in Africa by 2025 and predicts a strong demand for flights to the continent despite the outbreak of the Ebola disease, it said.
“There are indications that demand in the east is coming off a little bit because of a perception that Ebola is Africa-wide, but it certainly isn’t,” said Tim Clark, the Emirates president, in Dubai at the Global Africa Forum yesterday.
“There are segments of our business in China, Taiwan and Vietnam that are fairly cautious about what they do, but for every one of those that we lose we fill it with something else. There’s always business to be done in Africa.”
In August, Emirates indefinitely suspended flights to Conakry after an outbreak of the disease in Guinea. The death toll in West Africa – mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone – where the disease is prevalent, has passed 3,300. According to the World Health Organisation, there were nearly 7,200 infections as of Sunday.
Emirates, which flies to more than 20 destinations in Africa, is focused on expanding in the continent.
On Tuesday, Emirates reached a deal with the Angolan government to manage the national carrier, TAAG Linhas Aéreas De Angola.
In August, Emirates signed a partnership with Nigeria’s Arik Air, pening up new routes throughout western Africa for the carrier.
UAE companies and sovereign wealth funds including DP World and Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) have shown a keen interest in investing in Africa.
The telecoms operator Etisalat, which has a presence in several African markets including Sudan, Tanzania, Benin, Gabon and Ivory Coast, in May finalised the acquisition of a 53 per cent stake in Maroc Telecom, giving it access to Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Mali.
Separately, Emirates said yesterday that it has started its daily A380 service from Dubai to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) in the United States.
Emirates was the first Middle East airline to fly direct to the Middle East from DFW in 2012, and the transition from Boeing 777-200 to Airbus A380 has increased the capacity on the route by more than 80 per cent.
selgazzar@thenational.ae
* with Agencies
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