Turkish Airlines set for Kigali

[sn26567]

Information was received overnight from Kigali that Turkish Airlines appears set to commence direct flights between Istanbul and Kigali / Rwanda, although the exact routing could not be confirmed immediately. The new connection will add yet more seats to the country, which has been busy promoting its tourism and investment opportunities around the world, and with Turkish, a member of the world’s leading airline alliance ‘Star’, an emerging global player is coming to Kigali, offering a growing network of connections to many key global cities, in Europe, Eastern Europe, the Americas, the Gulf, Asia and beyond.

Turkish already connects 14 cities in Africa with Istanbul and the choice of Rwanda’s capital Kigali also speaks for the country itself, now considered as a rising star on the continent and a choice destination for tourists and business visitors alike.

Courtesy Wolfganghthome blog

[Darjeeling]

TK really becomes a huge impressive company !!!

Look at the portfolio of destinations, their new widebodies, the new cabins, they keep receiving new 320s and 737s each month... and their service is really improving. Their sport sponsorship campaign is a real phenomenon and the "Globally yours" campaign is really attractive and talking.

They are really doing good in Africa (excellent connections to USA/India/China, they don't rely only on stupid codeshares in that aim BTW). A real added value for Star.

[rwandan-flyer]

It's now confirmed :

http://rwandan-flyer.blog4ever.com/blog ... wanda.html

[hakan]

Great news for Rwanda. THY will also be the big brother for Rwandair and show them the way to become a successful airline.

[hakan]

Further to my comments here, the leading aviation web site in Turkey has just announced this news too. According to www.airporthaber.com web site THY will use B737-900ER for the African flights. They say THY will also open the following African destinations: (no date given)

*Congo-Kinshasa
*Nigeria-Kano and Ibadan
*Angola-Luanda
*Zimbabwe-Harare
*Cameroon-Douala
*Somalia-Mogadishu

[Flanker]

Well some people have been warning that this would happen.
More and more competition are eating up SN's market bit by bit.
Some other people thought that narrow-body operations to Africa are a joke.

Now you see, it's all but a joke.

5 years from now, with the advent of longer range narrow-bodies like the NEO, Europe-Africa traffic will become a narrow-body market.

TK seem to be preparing quite a coup in Africa with their 15 B739ER's and IST is well-located to connect Europe to Central and Eastern Africa. If the price and product is right, they can also serve Western Africa competitively.

Smart, very smart TK.

A few more of these announcements and SN can kiss Africa goodbye.

[cathay belgium]

Hi,

As I already warned, TK is quite some concurrence ..,new planes,low fares,..

Luckily for SN I don't see directly more airliners showing up.
Afriqayiha is dead by now or not ?

But Turkey is quite good geographicly located for narrow body ops to ASIA and AFI.
Nobody said it couldn't be done for SN but it was hard to operate it DIRECTLY.

Don't start this topic again ..

But TK doesn't operate them directly no?
Altough I agree it's very bad news.. but could be foreseen as TK is flying EVERYWHERE nowadays,
how the hell can they do this ? ( But you can't compare turkish market with begian market ).
If so you must see Belgium-Netherlands and Germany together no ?

The main problem is BEL is a bit too small no? in their region and with KLM-AF-LH in the neighbourhood,
within Turkey .. eeh maybe Egyptair, if they had the stability they could have enter as a new /other TK..
And all *A partners !!

The big strength for SN will be the start and expansion of Korongo.. but when the hell will they start ops..
but these ops are already an advantage for SN,as SN have more knowledge here..
Don't think Harare and Mogodishu will be the markets to start nowadays..
Cameroon and Angola have strong concurrence with other alliances already... and Arik offcourse..

New regions to explore.. where is our 6th A330 ?

GRTZ CX-B

[sn-remember]

2 yrs ago (or less) there was no KL and no TK on KGL/EBB.
There was less KQ and less ET also.
And there was no 8U and other new players who have also a legitimate ambition.
SN which feature a long experience on this market never considered expansion during the 2000-2010 decade.
Neither in East Africa, neither in West or Central Africa, neither anywhere.
They just let the ship drift with no apparent command at the helm.
I questioned this strategy (or absence of) repeatedly (maybe too consistently) since the 1st time I registered on this website.
The truth -and the evidence- is given today that there was ample opportunity to increase the presence and set the frequencies up towards the daily rotations. In KGL as in numerous destinations they serve unchanged since a decade.
BRU has still like an African flavor floating around that many other places lack, that asset should imho be developed now more urgently than ever .
The Korongo project AS IT IS seems doomed (meaning politically blocked) .. I personally believe there probably was an opportunity to seize in Senegal 2 yrs ago before DN were launched. I still believe there is an opportunity to launch (or participate in the launching of) a venture in western Africa or in Cameroon.. why not still Korongo but revisited ?
Just my 2 cts

[rwandan-flyer]

Great news for Rwanda. THY will also be the big brother for Rwandair and show them the way to become a successful airline.

Yes, RwandAir is becoming a successful airline, they are now a network carrier and uses Kigali as a hub. They will take delivery of two B737-800s. They will use it on lucrative routes to Dubai, Johannesburg and Nairobi. They plan to use them on new west Africa routes (Lagos) to Egypt with continuation to Europe, but not yet confirmed. They have do things step by step.

Rwanda is among ten best African destinations for investment.

[luchtzak]

Great news for Rwanda. THY will also be the big brother for Rwandair and show them the way to become a successful airline.

Yes, RwandAir is becoming a successful airline, they are now a network carrier and uses Kigali as a hub. They will take delivery of two B737-800s. They will use it on lucrative routes to Dubai, Johannesburg and Nairobi. They plan to use them on new west Africa routes (Lagos) to Egypt with continuation to Europe, but not yet confirmed. They have do things step by step.

Rwanda is among ten best African destinations for investment.

Thank you for your news about RwandAir, but the topic is about Turkish Airlines flying to Kigali

[Conti764]

Well some people have been warning that this would happen.
More and more competition are eating up SN's market bit by bit.
Some other people thought that narrow-body operations to Africa are a joke.

Now you see, it's all but a joke.

Of course... Just forget IST is 3hrs flying from BRU and that it is far more southernly located, thus way better suited to have narrowbody flights to IST. KEF-JFK is doable with a 738, and KEF is rouhgly as far from BRU as IST. So, let's all fly 737's accros the pond?

Once SN's new product is available, I'd prefer flying them on a widebody over flying TK on a narrowbody anytime.

[Flanker]

Just forget IST is 3hrs flying from BRU and that it is far more southernly located, thus way better suited to have narrowbody flights to IST.

I'm imagining things, right?
When are you going to start doing your research?

IST-KGL is about the same air distance as BRU-LFW or BRU-ABJ or BRU-COO or BRU-BKO or BRU-OUA or BRU-FNA or BRU-DKR or BRU-ROB or BRU-ACC or BRU-CKY or BRU-BJL.

DLA and NSI are also not that much far away.

IST (40°58'37"N 28°48'53"E) KGL (1°58'07"S 30°08'22"E) 178.0° (S) 2956 mi
BRU (50°54'05"N 4°29'04"E) LFW (6°09'56"N 1°15'16"E) 184.6° (S) 3087 mi
BRU (50°54'05"N 4°29'04"E) ABJ (5°15'41"N 3°55'35"W) 191.7° (S) 3181 mi
BRU (50°54'05"N 4°29'04"E) BKO (12°32'01"N 7°57'00"W) 199.3° (S) 2735 mi
BRU (50°54'05"N 4°29'04"E) FNA (8°36'59"N 13°11'44"W) 205.3° (SW) 3084 mi
BRU (50°54'05"N 4°29'04"E) COO (6°21'26"N 2°23'04"E) 183.0° (S) 3071 mi
BRU (50°54'05"N 4°29'04"E) OUA (12°21'11"N 1°30'45"W) 189.4° (S) 2678 mi
BRU (50°54'05"N 4°29'04"E) DKR (14°44'23"N 17°29'25"W) 214.2° (SW) 2778 mi
BRU (50°54'05"N 4°29'04"E) ROB (6°14'02"N 10°21'44"W) 200.7° (S) 3194 mi
BRU (50°54'05"N 4°29'04"E) CKY (9°34'37"N 13°36'43"W) 206.3° (SW) 3028 mi
BRU (50°54'05"N 4°29'04"E) ACC (5°36'19"N 0°10'00"W) 186.5° (S) 3132 mi
BRU (50°54'05"N 4°29'04"E) BJL (13°20'17"N 16°39'08"W) 212.2° (SW) 2848 mi

TK are also talking about going all the way to FIH with B739ER's.

For your information ,the B739ER has nowhere near the range or field performance the A319 has.
In fact, if the B739ER can do it, there's no reason why a packed A320 shouldn't be able to do it.

Once SN's new product is available, I'd prefer flying them on a widebody over flying TK on a narrowbody anytime.

Considering same price maybe. It's unlikely TK would charge the same fares as SN.
The B739ER's will boast the new Sky Interior.

To moderators: this behavior of bad research is consistent and disturbing.

[cnc]

Once SN's new product is available, I'd prefer flying them on a widebody over flying TK on a narrowbody anytime.

you haven't flown TK yet or been in a SN A330 haven't you?
i could understand you prefere flying on a widebody of EK or EY over a TK narrowbody but SN?

[Passenger]

Well some people have been warning that this would happen.
More and more competition are eating up SN's market bit by bit.
Some other people thought that narrow-body operations to Africa are a joke.

You have not "warned" about this. You had a theory about 20 x A319's, doing triangle flights between BRU and Africa. You have never spoken about a 737-900ER, having about double capacity of the A319.

Aviation is more then what you get from wikipedia, google, airbus.com and boeing.com. Once you leave the virtual world, it's becoming team work. Every single difficulty brought forward during real aviation tasks forces is regarded as correct and important. Example: the luggage story for SN's Kigali (and other AFI) flights. It's probably one of the reasons why TK is not using it's A319's for Kigali - but you deny it for SN. I remember you once wrote "we'll then take it with us next time". Customer satisfaction: none. If the pasengers have a travel insurance, the claims follow automaticly.

Bottom line : change your point of view please. And do not pull conclusions from non-issues. And more important: you think that you outbeat everybody here for every single aspect from aviation, from flight range via cockpit issues and leases to break even calculations, yield management and sales (my field). In real aviation, valid arguments from others are accepted without discussion. Try to do that also please.

Otherwise, it's a proof that you are not an aviation professional that you intend to be.

[diminbru]

To moderators: this behavior of bad research is consistent and disturbing.

not to mention your 'research' : also VERY disturbing and above all BORING

Once SN's new product is available, I'd prefer flying them on a widebody over flying TK on a narrowbody anytime.

you haven't flown TK yet or been in a SN A330 haven't you?
i could understand you prefere flying on a widebody of EK or EY over a TK narrowbody but SN?

cnc, maybe you should read what Conti764 is saying : Once SN's new product is available


If I'm not wrong, SN's new product isn't available yet, so you can't possibly have flown already on their new product. And year after year, SN is getting more and more passengers...But hey I forgot, you are right and all these passengers are wrong.

[tolipanebas]

The plane Turkish is going to use for this route, is not just a standard 739NG, it is a specially reconfigured version of the extended range version with merely 151 seats installed in it of which not all will be offered for sale even, this because of possible range issues.

[eurojet]

well, those who doubt about the comfort of a narrow-body: I just did Frankfurt-IST-Baku with Turkish on both their A321 (brand-new) and their B-738 in economy, and I can only say, fab flights and fab service. Even personal IFE on their A321, best Y-class meals in years, overall a much better experience then wide-dody A340/A330 between Frankfurt and Baku I often take as well. Price? EUR 610 .... I would not doubt to fly Y-class with TK to AFI on narrow-body ....

[cnc]

cnc, maybe you should read what Conti764 is saying : Once SN's new product is available

i wonder of which far future product you are talking about that could be superior to TK's product

[Passenger]

cnc, maybe you should read what Conti764 is saying : Once SN's new product is available

I wonder of which far future product you are talking about that could be superior to TK's product.

For most people, a nonstop flight - or at least a direct flight - is more important then the Skytrax quality of the airline. So yes: a flight Brussels-Kigali on a three star airline is superior to a flight Brussels-Istanbul / Istanbul-Kigali on a four star airline.

Flying medium haul in a single aile aircraft isn't nice: it's a problem if you want to stretch your legs, it's a problem when you want to go to the toilet, and it's surely a problem when meals are served.

[sn-remember]

Nobody is doubting the quality of service that can be provided on a 73x/A32x.
But as Tolipanebas rightly stresses, TK are pushing the plane's possibilities to extremities.
They can also add a remote tank to extend range even more to reach FIH or LAD for instance.
The 739s they are expecting to receive in the next months will serve their African huge ambitions well.
They plan 30+ AFI destinations in the next year.
Like EK using the A332 on new routes, they open the AFI market using the 739 non stop in a sub configuration. Bright idea !
In the same way they could very well target the Indian subcontinent but the competition is already very hard and yealds lower.

So what market do they target in AFI ?
Obviously not the OD market which is nearly non existant.
For EA they target Europe and NAmerica + NEast and Russia.
For WA they mainly target Asia, China, NEast.
In EA they hurt SN and the likes (KL...)
In WA they mainly hurt the Gulf carriers and ET,KQ. Also KL/AF.

SN also want to target the US-EA market. Opening NAtl routes can help(?) strenghten the route structure in AFI. EA possible consolidation : BRU-EBB-NBO(7), BRU-KGL-BJM(4), BRU-ADD-DAR(3) ... possibly BRU-FBM-KGL(3)
In WA, SN and Hainan may offer an attractive(?) alternative. The future will tell how and if they can develop ties further.

Anyhow the AFI market could very well swell like a bubble with the consequences of lower prices and possible burst. With that perspective in mind, the A32xNEO may offer an excellent tool to help consolidate existing markets and investigate new ones. Ordering now makes sense in order to receive the first units around 2018.