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Saturday, January 5, 2013

► CHAD: Tunisair looking to start Ndjamena via Douala amongst other routes?

TunisairTunisair (TU), the Tunisian national carrier, are said to be in the process of finalizing a possible Tunis - Ndjamena (Chad) via Douala (Cameroon) route according to Chadian newspaper reports.

Tunisair Africa Routes
Tunisair Africa Network (Present & Projected)
The announcement comes after a press conference on Friday 28 December 2012 held at the Tunis Stock Exchange, in which Rabah Jrad, the CEO of Tunisair, discussed the airline's aim of boosting its share of the African market by serving 20 African destinations in 2016, against just 4 now. 

Tunisiair is said to be looking at flights to:
  • The Republic of Congo (either Brazzaville/Pointe Noire),
  • Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso as an extension to its current Tunis - Bamako, Mali route,
  • Ndjamena, Chad via Douala, Cameroon.
  • Sebha, Libya
Source [JournalDuTchad]

Tunisair's intention to launch Ndjamena (via Douala) would be going against current regional trends as Kenya Airways (KQ) dropped the route in November citing poor loads and heavy taxes. Additional challenges in making the small market viable could arise with Turkish Airlines rumoured to be starting a 4x weekly flight at some stage in 2013.