Johannesburg

The riches of North and Southern Africa have attracted traders down the ages. Mike Swindell reviews the routes that air-age business travellers can follow to key African markets.

OF ALL the world’s continents it is Africa that is criss-crossed by the most international borders. Although the division of the skies into a tightly spun web of international air spaces has the potential to cause some logistical nightmares – not least for air traffic authorities – getting to and around this diverse continent is not as difficult as one might believe.

The number of flights between Western Europe and Africa has recorded above-average growth between July 2006 and the same month this year, with an increase in capacity of 11 per cent, representing an additional 2,100 flights and over 322,000 more available seats.

It is Johannesburg, the financial capital of South Africa, that is heading the pack. Its total of 16,300 July flights in and out of the city was up ten per cent on the same month last year, making it the busiest African hub by some distance. At the other end of the continent, Cairo took second place with around half of Jo’burg’s volume of air traffic (but up 20 per cent on July 2006), with Cape Town not far behind in third. Nairobi, with 4,300 flights in July, and Algiers, with 3,700, completed the top five African destinations.

The rise of Middle Eastern airlines has given UK passengers a further alternative for flying to the continent, with Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways and, in particular, Emirates serving a number of destinations across Africa. And it’s the Middle Eastern airlines that are upping the stakes on routes to Africa. Emirates is introducing lie-flat massage seats with more personal space in its business class cabins and adding a new ICE Digital Widescreen entertainment system, while First and Business Class passengers flying via Doha with Qatar Airways can make use of the world’s first dedicated Premium Class terminal.

Not to be left out, BA’s new-look Club World is available on some of the carrier’s services to its African destinations, with the product due to be rolled out across the its fleet of B747s by the end of the year. Finally, Virgin’s new Premium Economy cabin, with seats of 38-inch pitch and 21inches wide, is now onboard all its services to African destinations out of Heathrow.

Fleet news from Kenya Airways, meanwhile, includes the acquisition of its fourth Boeing 777-200ER and the lease of three Embraer 170 regional jets to help expand domestic and regional routes.

Johannesburg, South Africa
The financial capital of South Africa is also the main air gateway to the country and therefore draws airlines serving both the leisure and business markets, giving business travellers great flexibility in their choice of services. British Airways and South African Airways offer double daily services from London Heathrow, with Virgin Atlantic Airways operating daily flights. Air France offers good UK regional connections via Paris Charles de Gaulle through services out of Aberdeen, Bristol, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Manchester, Newcastle and Southampton. From London Gatwick, the single choice is Nationwide Air, which offers four flights a week. Another option is flying Air Namibia via Windhoek, a service which departs Gatwick three days a week. Via the Middle East, connections are available through the respective hubs of Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways.

Cape Town, South Africa
South Africa’s Mother City is the part-time home of the country’s parliament and is increasingly important as a base for hi-tech and light industry while also attracting financial institution head offices. British Airways and South African Airways offer daily services from London Heathrow, while FlyGlobespan.com offers premium economy and business class services from Manchester twice a week from November to April. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines offers a reasonable alternative to Heathrow with daily flights out of Amsterdam Schiphol. Regional UK connections for these services are from Aberdeen, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Durham Tees Valley, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Humberside, Leeds Bradford, London City, Manchester, Newcastle and Norwich. Qatar Airways operates via its Doha base.

Durban, South Africa
There are no non-stop flights from the UK to Durban, South Africa’s leading conference city, but competing domestic airlines offer quick and frequent connections from the Cape Town and Johannesburg international gateways.

Nairobi, Kenya
Kenya’s capital is another key commercial hub in sub-Saharan Africa and as such draws the attention of the UK’s two leading long haul carriers, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, along with Kenya Airways – all operating out of London Heathrow. Both British Airways and Kenya Airways offer ten flights a week to Nairobi while Virgin has a daily service. Viable options for connecting through European hubs exist at Paris Charles de Gaulle and at Amsterdam. The French flag carrier’s strong UK regional schedule of departures for Paris link in with Kenya Airways’ daily operation out of the French capital to Nairobi while British Airways feeds in to KLM’s six flights a week from Amsterdam to Kenya. Emirates flies twice daily from Dubai and Qatar Airways flies from Doha.

Lagos, Nigeria
Although Lagos is no longer Nigeria’s capital it still wields enormous influence in the oil-rich economy. It is home to the High Court and the Lagos State Judiciary and is the preferred city of residence for the country’s ruling elite and a large proportion of the expatriate community. For flights out of the UK, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are again in the frame – both operating daily schedules to Lagos from London Heathrow. The other option from Heathrow is Nigeria’s independent carrier, Bellview Airlines, which operates a two-class Boeing 767 service four days a week.

From London Gatwick, Virgin Nigeria is the only non-stop choice with eight flights a week. The best European connections are offered by Air France, via Paris, and Alitalia, through Milan Malpensa. Both airlines operate a daily service from their respective hubs to Lagos.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
As befits this ancient city, Addis Ababa has developed into something of the official diplomatic capital of Africa, with more than 90 embassies and consular representatives calling the city home and making it the fourth largest diplomatic centre in the world. Addis was also chosen as the headquarters of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in 1998 and houses the headquarters of the then Organisation of African Union (OAU), now renamed the African Union (AU). Ethiopian Airlines offers the only non-stop service from London Heathrow to Addis, maintaining a six-flights-a-week frequency, missing out only Tuesdays in the weekly schedule. The quickest connection through Europe is via Rome Fiumicino airport with Alitalia providing the flights from the UK and Ethiopian Airlines offering a daily schedule onward to Addis. The fullest schedule of connections is via Dubai with Emirates offering flights from Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and (from September 1) Newcastle. Those flights connect with Ethiopian Airlines which has 17 flights a week flying out of Dubai to Addis. The drawback is that the non-stop flight time of around eight hours from Heathrow with Ethiopian draws out to 12hrs 30mins for the connection through the Middle East.

Entebbe/Kampala, Uganda
As one of Africa’s success stories, Uganda has become a significant stop on the continent’s business routes. Agriculture remains the mainstay of the economy with coffee exports accounting for more than half the country’s earnings although horticulture and floriculture are attracting increased investment as air-cargo becomes a viable means of transport. British Airways is the only airline offering non-stop services from Heathrow to Entebbe with three flights a week. Connections through Amsterdam adds only two hours to the non-stop flying time, with KLM offering two flights a week out of Schiphol. Another option is to use Kenya Airways’ daily services to Entebbe out of Nairobi, a routing that adds just two hours to the non-stop time. Emirates flies daily from Dubai.

Lusaka, Zambia
A resurgence in the international copper market has helped bring Zambia back on to the world business travel map, with London-based Vedanta Resources making the largest single investment in the country last year to transform the Konkola Copper Mines. And with the government pursuing an economic diversification programme to reduce the economy’s reliance on the copper industry there is current interest in the development of agriculture, tourism, gemstone and mineral mining and hydro-power. British Airways is the sole flag carrier for non-stop flights out of the UK with three flights a week from London Heathrow. The most realistic connections are through the African hubs of Nairobi and Johannesburg. Kenya Airways has six flights a week from Nairobi while South African Airways musters 10 flights a week from Johannesburg. Those connections, however, add more than four hours to the non-stop flying time.

Gaborone, Botswana
Having built its national fortune on the discovery of diamonds, Botswana has fostered one of the of fastest growing economies in the world and is ranked as Africa’s least corrupt country placing it ahead of many European and Asian countries. The discovery of uranium deposits this year has opened up a potential new revenue stream, while positive results have come back from international prospecting for gold, copper and oil. With such exemplary government and apparent mineral wealth it is surprising that there are no non-stop flights from the UK to the Botswana capital of Gabarone. The best connections are through Johannesburg, with British Airways, Virgin Atlantic Airways and South African Airways linking in with Air Botswana’s daily services.

Windhoek, Namibia
Mining is the main driver of Namibia’s economy with uranium deposits ensuring its place as the fifth largest producer in the world. Gem-quality diamonds add considerable revenue to the nation’s coffers while large deposits of lead, zinc, tin, silver and tungsten bolster the export revenue stream. Air Namibia provides the sole non-stop connection from the UK with three flights a week from London Heathrow.

Cairo, Egypt
Egyptair provides the greatest choice of flights from London Heathrow to Egypt’s capital city, with eight flights a week, followed by British Airways’ daily service and Sudan Airways with two flights a week. Air France services via Paris represent the fastest route through a European hub, with the carrier offering ten flights a week. The Alitalia option via Milan Malpensa is slightly longer but gives a choice of 22 flights a week.

Tripoli, Libya
As Libya warms to the west, British Airways now offers a daily service from London Heathrow to Tripoli, the country’s capital, while Libyan Arab Airlines maintains two flights a week. Afriqiyah Airways flies from London Gatwick on a daily schedule. Flying through Rome with Alitalia gives business travellers a choice of 21 flights a week but increases the flying time from three and a half hours to six.

Algiers, Algeria
Air Algerie is the only airline flying from London Heathrow to oil-rich Algeria. The airline flies five days a week, missing out Wednesdays and Thursdays. British Airways has a more robust schedule of nine flights a week out of London Gatwick.

Tunis, Tunisia
With Tunisia becoming the first Mediterranean country to enter into an association agreement with the EU prospects of trade are opening up in areas of mining, energy, tourism, petroleum and manufacturing. Tunis Air offers the only non-stop air connection from the UK with four flights a week from London Heathrow. For a marginal time penalty, business travellers can route through Paris Charles de Gaulle with Air France and choose between 26 flights a week.

Rabat, Morocco
There are no non-stop flights from the UK to the capital of the Kingdom of Morocco, though there are to Marrakesh in the south of the country. The fastest connection at just over five hours is through Paris Charles de Gaulle using Air France which offers four flights a week to Rabat. British Airways also connects with Royal Air Maroc at Paris Orly where the Moroccan flag carrier operates ten flights a week with a journey time from London of about seven hours.

Regional Roundup
South African Airlines is Southern Africa’s largest airline with a regional network that extends throughout Southern, Western and East Africa, while Kenya Airways also figures strongly with connections to nearly 30 regional destinations. In North Africa, Ethiopian Airlines has an extensive regional network covering some 20 African countries.

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