Emirates upgrades Cape Town-Dubai aircraft

Emirates will reintroduce the B777-300ER to its Cape Town route from 1 September. The upgrade of the aircraft type adds about 90 more seats to the non-stop route daily.

Emirates also serves the route with the Airbus 340-300 and offers twice daily international flights to and from Cape Town throughout the year.

Flight EK 773 will depart Cape Town at 13h30 and arrive in Dubai the next morning at 01h15. The return flight, EK 772, will depart Dubai at 03h50, landing in Cape Town at 11h40. 

The B777-300ER will feature 354 seats in a three-class configuration – eight seats in First Class, 42 in Business, both with lie-flat seats, and 304 in Economy. Emirates signature First Class private suites also feature on the aircraft, along with its ‘ice’ in-flight entertainment system in all classes.

The airline offers decent baggage allowances – 30 kilograms in Economy, 40 in Business and 50 in First Class. Emirates Skywards Platinum, Gold or Silver members are entitled to additional allowances.

Turkish Airlines finalises order for five additional 777-300ERs

Turkish Airlines has announced an order for five Boeing 777-300ER (Extended Range) aircraft. The Turkish flag-carrier has exercised options on five 777-300ERs that were first announced in December 2012 as part of a previous firm order for 15 777-300ERs. Turkish Airlines now has 20 of these planes currently on order from Boeing.

Turkish Airlines' fleet currently includes 12 777-300ERs, the first of which Boeing delivered in October 2010. Since then, the 777-300ER has played a significant role in Turkish Airlines' long-haul growth.

The 777-300ER can seat up to 386 passengers in a three-class configuration and has a maximum range of 14,685 kilometres.

The airline’s African destinations include Accra, Abidjan, Addis Ababa, Algiers, Cape Town, Dakar, Entebbe, Johannesburg, Kinshasa, Kigali, Lagos, Libreville, Lusaka, Mombasa, Mogadishu, Ndjamena, Nouakchott, Tripoli, Tunis and Yaoundé.
 

Qatar Airways to start Ethiopia flights

Qatar Airways has announced that it will start a service to Ethiopia in September. The three weekly Doha–Addis Ababa operation will be flown by a 144-seat, two-class Airbus A320 aircraft with 12 seats in business and 132 in economy.

Ethiopia is becoming an increasingly promising trade hub for European and Asian investments. Just last month, Ethiopian prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn extended an invitation to China’s entrepreneurs, encouraging them to invest in the region’s apparel manufacturing sector. "Qatar believes in the long-term potential of the destination, hence the reason for its expansion of its international route network there," Colin Neubronner, regional marketing manager of East Asia and Southwest Pacific for the airline, confirmed.

The Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa will become Qatar’s 20th destination on the African continent, and is part of the carrier’s aggressive expansion plan, which has seen the company order nine B777-300ERs  recently, along with frequency increases to Paris, Pakistan and new services to Basra

Visit www.qatarairways.com for more information.

Clement Huang