A new competitor to Air France in Africa
Off imminent. A new airline, African Oxygen, will serve the Dark Continent from late September, and this from Paris. The company has filed an application for a certificate of air from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). This card is indispensable for the operation of airlines, should be obtained in the coming weeks. Thirty pilots and a hundred flight attendants have already been recruited.
To start, the company leased two Boeing 767 with U.S. lessor International Lease Finance Corporation. The first aircraft, currently in Miami, should be delivered in Paris on July 15, the second in mid-August. According to our information, Oxygen will be a scheduled airline flights to Africa, but will not provide charter flights.The aircraft will be equipped with an economy class and business class to attract "customers high contribution," including executives of oil companies.
Five destinations are planned initially: Luanda (Angola), Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire), Malabo (Equatorial Guinea), Conakry (Guinea) and Bamako (Mali). The company has obtained traffic rights to fly to these cities. She currently negotiate with Burkina Faso Ouagadougou to serve. By opening these destinations, Oxygen, which was established with a contribution of 25 million euros of "private European investors," said a source close to the case, addresses the most profitable destinations of Air France network. "The national airline is in a quasi-monopoly on Africa, says an analyst.Ticket prices are high due to a clientele of executives and individuals willing to pay the price for travel with Air France rather than African company. "
Lufhansa gaining momentum
Former executive of Airports of Paris, the founder of Oxygen, Steve Bokhobza, was chief of visits to several airlines. According to one of his collaborators, his intention is to recover the former Air France customers who now travel to Africa via the hubs of Lufthansa Group. The German competitor is indeed in full rise on the continent, where it already boasts so many destinations that Air France."As Lufthansa, Oxygen will offer prices 20% lower than those of Air France, said a close case, but will be direct flights from Paris." Eventually, the young company aims to operate four widebody to Africa and a dozen small devices in order to develop regional transport.
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