South African Airways upgrade India

[planecrazy]

The airline have replaced the 767-200ER on their non-stop Mumbai service with an A340-200.

[NWAirlinkCRJ@ERI]

AWESOME!!! MORE VARIETY AT BOM NOW!!!

[MauwieAir]

mmmm well i dont think the A340-200 is much better for this route (pax)

[NWAirlinkCRJ@ERI]

There is quite a bit of traffic between India, specifically Bombay, and Africa. Just look at the airlines from Africa flying into BOM.

Ethiopian
Kenya Airways
Egypt Air
Bellview Airlines of Nigeria (before they went under)
Air Tanzania (is going to start next year with B767 that they are getting from SAA from DAR to BOM)
South African
Zambia Airways (before they wnet under)

Not to mention Air India's routes to Kenya and Tanzania.

My cousin lives in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, and when we met up in India this May, he said that the flight was 100% full. He flew Air India A310-300 from DAR to BOM via NBO. My uncle regularly flies between DAR and BOM via NBO using Kenya Airways, on a B767-300 and he says the flights are regularly full. India is one of the african airlines most profitable routes! More capacity is needed infact.

-Pete

[Foxtrot]

Re:

mmmm well i dont think the A340-200 is much better for this route (pax)

Dude, SAA's flights between BOM and FAJS have been packed. The 342 's been overdue.

[NWAirlinkCRJ@ERI]

Well said Foxtrot, and absolutely correct.

Everytime I'm flying back to the states from BOM, and I'm waiting at my gate, I always ask the gate agent the loads on the flights for the evening and I've always gotten that the flights to Africa and Europe are always jampacked and sometimes overbooked! I've seen passengers boarding the SAA flight to JNB, and I always wondered if they could fit that many passengers on a 767-200. There were a ton of passengers for that flight!, plus i think Thrice-weekly service is too few as well! That should be helped with the upgrading to an A340.

-Pete

[Foxtrot]

Re:

Thanks. Yah, India's market is profitable for any airline, regardless.

Yep, the international terminal at BOM also needs replacement. Btw, do you know if there are good airport layout diagrams of BOM anywhere on the net? I've tried, and nothing so far.

[indian airlines]

Hahahahaha

Foxtrot, dude, u can keep trying.

Why do u think our dumb govt. back in good ol' India prohibits photography at Indian airports and over indian airspace??? So that "terrorists do not get the layout of an airport/important site and plan an attack there!!!"

And here you're thinking they'll put it up for everybody to see on the www!

No offense, I'm just fed up with the Indian govt.!

-Tanuj.

[Foxtrot]

Re:

Well, I guess I should have known. heh heh.

No airport maps, but none of the door-frame metal detectors installed at the airports work.

So much for terrorists not getting through.

[NWAirlinkCRJ@ERI]

Foxtrot,

If you need a map of BOM, i can make one for you from MSFS, and memory!

Thats pretty much all you can find, concerning charts on the Net, unless you were to buy them.

-Pete

[Cubana]

NWAirlinkCRJ@ERI: there is a respectable and powerful Indian community in Tanzania. They specially live in Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar and Arusha. They own lots of shops over there. That is the reason because flights to India from Dar are always full.

By the way, do you happen to know how is Air Tanzania doing right now?

Cheers

[NWAirlinkCRJ@ERI]

NWAirlinkCRJ@ERI: there is a respectable and powerful Indian community in Tanzania. They specially live in Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar and Arusha. They own lots of shops over there. That is the reason because flights to India from Dar are always full.

By the way, do you happen to know how is Air Tanzania doing right now?

Cheers

Cubana,
You are absolutely correct, as I know this for a fact. My cousin lives in Dar Es Salaam, and I also have family in Kenya and Uganda. I'm an Indian, so believe me I get the first hand account of how things are in Tanzania. Traffic is excellent between the subcontinent and the continent of Africa! My uncle also travels a lot within Tanzania (he flies a lot between Dar and Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Mwanza, Zanzibar, and Kigoma), and he has often told me that whereever he goes, he always is glad to see people from India. They are all over east and south Africa.

As for Air Tanzania. They have made a ressurection from what they were, thanks to the help of South African Airways. They are currently operating DHC Dash-8s on regional services, and have 737-200s for the medium range services. They are acquiring the 2 SAA 767-200s that South African is getting rid off (infact that is the aircraft that operated the JNB-BOM route) and they are going to use it for services to Dubai and Bombay. These two are the most popular and profitable destinations from Tanzania. Emirates operates a 777-300 to DAR from DXB via NBO.

Destinations currently operated by Air Tanzania are: Dar Es Salaam, Zanzibar, Kilamanjaro, Mwanza, Mtwara, in Tanzania, Mombasa and Nairobi, in Kenya, Entebbe, in Uganda, Blatyre, in Malawi (a code share with Air Malawi, operated by Air Malawi B737-300s), and to Johannesburg, South Africa.

Dar Es Salaam also has a very nice international airport, and is also one of the nicer cities in Africa. It is clean and pleasant.

-Pete

[Cubana]

Yup, you are absolutely right. A friend of mine lives in Arusha, although she's moving this November to Holland (works at the UN), that's why I'm interested by East Africa in general and TZ particularly.

Thanks for the info. I hope Air Tanzania will be back to Europe. I saw some pics of a 707 in FRA, for instance.

Cheers

[NWAirlinkCRJ@ERI]

Anytime, Cubana.

If you have anymore questions, please feel free to ask. I'll be happy to answer them.

-Pete

[uy707]

mmmm well i dont think the A340-200 is much better for this route (pax)

Sure the 342 is better, first of all in term of operational range and second in term of capacity. Much better, the 762 remains a medium to long-hauler, whereas the 342 is a real long-ranger.
On the other hand,
-South African has a good reputation in most scopes including its management. So unlike a many african carriers, if they think a 342 is far better suited than a 762 to serve a particular route, they surely got a few good reasons. Furthermore, they have got a long standing tradition of operating very long haul flights.
-A many Indian citizens and ethnic Indians live in South Africa, particularly in Durban, in which they provide for the majority of inhabitants. Before returning to India in the early 1920's, Gandhi once worked in a legal practice there as a lawyer.
Regards
Alain
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