The Middle East giant carrier, Qatar Airways, on Tuesday said that it wants to increase its thrice weekly flights between Addis Ababa and Doha to twice daily.
Qatar Airways launched three weekly flights from Doha to Addis Ababa in September 2013 after a Memorandum of Understanding on air transport service was signed by the Ethiopian and Qatari governments. Delighted with the traffic flow, the management of the airline now wants to scale up the flight operation to twice daily.
Anjum Ali Miyan, commercial manager-Ethiopia, told The Reporter that the airline recently presented its request for permission to the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority (ECAA). “We are happy with the market on the Doha Addis Ababa route. We need to fly twice daily. But we asked the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority to be flexible as much as possible. We are negotiating with officials of the authority,” Miyan said.
Qatar Airways has 144 international destinations on all the five continents. It operates a single aisle Airbus A320 jetliner which has 144 seats (12 business class and 132 economy class) on the Addis-Doha route. However, Miyan said the airline will soon deploy a larger aircraft. After taking its passengers from Addis Ababa to Doha (Qatar Airways hub) it will transfer passengers to numerous destinations.
An aviation expert The Reporter talked to said that though Ethiopian Airlines does not fly to Doha, Qatar Airways will share Ethiopian Airline’s international market. “The Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority may allow a limited number of additional flights. Officials of the authority will consult executives of Ethiopian Airlines who will not concede to the idea of increasing flight frequency by Qatar Airways,” the expert said.
A senior official at the ECAA told The Reporter that the authority may not allow Qatar Airways to increase its flight frequency. “I am not aware of the permission request. We need to sit down and discuss the issue. We granted them a thrice-weekly flight based on the Memorandum of Understanding the two countries signed. And as far as I know they are operating these flights. But I am not aware of their interest to increase frequency,” the official said.
Miyan said that there is enough market for all carriers flying to Ethiopia. Currently, 13 foreign airlines fly to Addis Ababa. Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines, Emirates, Fly Dubai, Gulf Air, Egypt Air and Kenya Airways are among the list of international carriers that serve Addis Ababa.
An airline industry analyst The Reporter talked to said that there is no way that the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority will allow additional frequency to Qatar Airways. “Qatar Airways is strengthening the Doha hub. If you want to make Addis Ababa a regional hub you need to have a strong national operator. If you allow foreign carriers more frequency you will weaken Addis as a hub,” the analyst said.
“Qatar Airways is taking passengers from Addis Ababa to the US, Europe and Asia. The passenger traffic between Addis Ababa and Doha is not more than 80 per week. The rest of the passengers (the overwhelming majority of the traffic) are travelling to other destinations transiting in Doha. The Middle East carriers offer dumping fares. If you allow more frequency it will weaken Addis as a hub. This will eventually affect the Ethiopian aviation industry and the economy.”
Executives of Ethiopian Airlines declined to comment on the issue saying that it is the ECAA that deals with traffic rights.
Qatar Airways (Doha), Emirates (Dubai) and Etihad (Abu Dhabi) are the leading carriers in the Middle East. “With strong support from their governments these airlines are growing fast, dumping capacity and fares,” the analyst said.
Qatar Airways was established in 1997 and launched its operations with only four aircraft. Today, Qatar Airways operates 136 modern aircraft. Recently, it acquired the Airbus A380, the biggest commercial jetliner operating in the world. It will also take delivery of the A350XWB, airbus’ new wide body jetliner before the end of this year. The airline operates Boeing B787 Dreamliner and B777 jetliners. It has 340 aircraft on its order book valued at 70 billion dollars.
Qatar Airways celebrated its first anniversary of the launch of operation to Addis Ababa on Tuesday at the Bora Amusement Park. Executives of the airline fed destitute school children and provided them with uniforms and exercise books.
[TheReporterEthiopia]