Business / Industries

Airlines aim to upgrade flights

By Li Lianxing in Nairobi (China Daily) Updated: 2014-03-10 07:09

Shanghai will be Ethiopian's 80th international destination. With the new flight, Shanghai will be connected to 66 cities across Africa through Ethiopian's main hub in Addis Ababa.

Gebremariam says Chinese destinations are important gateways for China-Africa business relations and the company plans to further improve its market position in China.

Ethiopian is currently regarded as one of the fastest growing airlines in Africa and operates in 47 African and 79 international destinations across five continents.

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Mbuvi Ngunze, chief operating officer of Kenya Airways, another fast-growing African carrier, says that while it is difficult to estimate the actual number of passengers traveling between China and Africa, there are clear indications that passengers are becoming more diverse.

"Apart from business people and labor, there has been a steady increase in leisure travelers, a segment that holds immense potential," he says.

"Better air linkages not only provide convenient connectivity and better access, but also allow people to have more choices," he says. "When you sell end-to-end products to clients, you also drive the cooperation through various departments including tourism, investment and trade," Ngunze says.

Leisure travel, especially tourism, has become a new trend in bilateral ties. Tourist flows to Kenya, South Africa, Mauritius and Seychelles, especially from China, have been clocking up steady annual growth.

Ninety-seven million Chinese traveled abroad in 2013, 14 million more than in the year before, according to the China National Tourism Administration. The number is expected to exceed 100 million this year with more Chinese tourists heading to Africa.

More than 50,000 Chinese tourists visited Kenya last year - and 42,000 visited Mauritius. Andre Viljoen, CEO of Air Mauritius, says that the growing numbers have prompted the carrier to add more flights to China this year.

According to the Mauritius-based newspaper L'Express, Air Mauritius plans to add an additional weekly flight to Beijing from Port Louis in July.

Viljoen also said Air Mauritius would increase the seat capacity on its flights to China. The carrier expects overall tourist numbers of more than 146,000 this year, compared with 93,000 last year.