Eritrean Airlines

Infobox Airline
|airline=Eritrean Airlines

logo_size=250
IATA=B8
ICAO=ERT
callsign=ERITREAN
founded=1991 (in name only)
headquarters=Asmara, Eritrea
key_people=Kibrom Dafla (CEO)
hubs=Asmara International Airport
focus_cities=
frequent_flyer=
lounge=
alliance=
fleet_size=4
destinations=7
website=http://www.flyeritrea.com/

Eritrean Airlines is an airline based in Asmara in Eritrea. It is wholly owned by the Government of Eritrea and operates services to Europe and Africa, with plans to expand its fleet and network. Its main base is Asmara International Airport. [Flight International 3 April 2007]

History

The airline was established in 1991, but in name only, serving as the ground handling agent at Asmara International Airport and at Assab and Massawa and sales agent for other major airlines flying to Eritrea. In May 2002 it was decided to expand into airline services. Eritrean Airlines took delivery of their first aircraft, a leased Boeing 767-300ER, in April 2003 and started services from Asmara to Frankfurt, Milan, Nairobi and Rome. A second Boeing 767 was leased in mid-2004. In 2005 Eritrean Airlines began services from Asmara to Djibouti and Dubai, meanwhile the service to Nairobi was dropped. The lease of the first Boeing 767 seems to have been replaced by an Airbus 320 in 2006 and then replaced again with a Boeing 757 in early 2007 and yet again replaced with a DC-9 in late 2007, ending up with an MD-83 as of date [ [http://www.ch-aviation.ch/airlinepage.php?code1=B8 CH-Aviationndash Airline News, Fleet Lists & More ] ] . Meanwhile the flights to Amsterdam have also been dropped while flights to Milan remain only seasonal since December 2006 [www.flyeritrea.com] .

On September 21, 2006, Eritrean Airlines opened a deal with the government of Pakistan to start direct flights between Eritrea and Pakistan. Eritrean Airlines received permission from the civil aviation authority of Pakistan to start 2 flights a week each for Karachi and Lahore. [cite news|title=Pakistan, Eritrea to start direct flight|url=http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200609/21/eng20060921_304686.html|accessdate=2007-01-07] The deal does not seem to have materialized since then. Neither countries' airliners had added each others destinations to their routes list.

The winter season of 2006/2007 saw the following schedule: two flights weekly to Frankfurt and Dubai (the latter via Djibouti),once weekly to Jeddah, Rome while Milan was only served on certain dates. The summer season of 2007 which ended in October 27 of 2007 saw the following schedule of services: three flights a week to Frankfurt, two flights a week to Jeddah and Dubai (the latter via Djibouti) and one flight a week to Rome and Milan respectively [www.flyeritrea.com] .

Destinations

As of September 2008, Eritrean Airlines operates scheduled passenger flights to the following destinations: [http://www.flyeritrea.com/getflightsch.php Eritrean Airlines destinations] ]

*Africa
**Eritrea
***Asmara (Asmara International Airport) Main Hub
**Djibouti
***Djibouti (Djibouti-Ambouli International Airport)

*Middle East
**United Arab Emirates
***Dubai (Dubai International Airport)
**Saudi Arabia
***Jeddah (King Abdulaziz International Airport)

*Europe
** Germany
***Frankfurt (Frankfurt International Airport)
** Italy
***Milan (Malpensa Airport)
***Rome (Fiumicino Airport)

Fleet

As of November 2007, the Eritrean Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:

*1 MD-83
*1 Boeing 767-238ER (E3-AAQ)
*1 Boeing 767-300ER (E3-AAO)
*1 Boeing 757-256ER

External links

* [http://www.flyeritrea.com Eritrean Airlines]
* [http://www.eritreanairlines.nu Eritrean Airlines Scandinavia]
* [http://www.ch-aviation.ch/aircraft.php?search=set&airline=B8&al_op=1 Eritrean Airlines Fleet]

References