Nigeria’s civil aviation faces on-going challenges. Passenger numbers grew rapidly between 2006 and 2011, but safety issues and the demise of Air Nigeria have brought growth to a halt. Internationally, Etihad Airways is the most recent carrier to launch inter-continental services to Africa’s fourth busiest airport.
Etihad launches daily services from Abu Dhabi Airport to Ahmedabad in India.
Traffic at the UAE’s three biggest airports has almost quadrupled in just 10 years. Which airport grew fastest in 2011 and how dominant are the main carriers at these airports? Which new routes have been launched in the last 12 months and which country market has seen growth of over 30%?
Yes, those three big carriers in the Middle East are still expanding their networks and growing capacity. But which have been the latest route additions for each carrier and what are their plans for the coming months?
The Middle East Big 3 (MEB3) and Turkish Airlines are growing their networks to Sub-Saharan Africa fast, but how are the big European airline groups developing in the market? What are their African network strategies? Who is the biggest in the market and who is growing the fastest?
Etihad Airways has launched flights to Nigeria. Now serves Lagos from its hub at Abu Dhabi Airport in the UAE.
So what new destinations have Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways added to their globe-spanning networks in the last seven months? Which services have been dropped (or suspended) and which have been downgraded from non-stop to one-stop? And what are their plans for the rest of 2012?
Etihad Airways now flies from its Abu Dhabi Airport hub to Basra in southern Iraq, home to the country’s oil and gas industry.
Etihad Airways starts flying from Abu Dhabi to Nairobi in Kenya.
Etihad now flies to Shanghai Pudong Airport from its Abu Dhabi hub.
Since Emirates launched New York flights in 2004 the number of US services operated by Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways has grown relatively slowly. Next year’s Washington service from Etihad will only be the 12th such route. But which airports are served by more than one of the MEB3 carriers?
