Air Algérie inaugurates its first direct Algiers-Johannesburg flight

ALGIERS- Air Algérie inaugurated, Sunday evening at Houari-Boumediene International Airport, its first direct flight linking Algiers to Johannesburg in South Africa. The Minister of Transport, Youcef Cherfa, chaired, together with the Director General (DG) of Air Algérie, Yacine Benslimane, the inauguration ceremony of this first flight.

The minister affirmed, in a statement, that this new route will contribute to the strengthening of cooperation relations between Algeria and South Africa, particularly in the economic field, indicating that it will constitute “an additional important milestone in the development process of Air Algérie’s air transport plan”.

The new route will promote, he said, “Algeria’s openness to African countries, in accordance with the instructions of the President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, during the ceremony to award the Medal of honor of export, on July 11th”.

Mr. Cherfa took this opportunity to recall the African destinations recently opened to, among others, Dakar, Abidjan, Ouagadougou, Nouakchott and Bamako, making Algiers International Airport “an airport hub and a transit platform towards Africa and the rest of the world”.

The transport sector is seeking to open new international lines, in addition to the Algiers-Saint-Petersburg line, which opened on July 27, said the minister, assuring that the process was very well underway for the opening of lines with Douala , Addis Ababa and Abuja. As for the opening of the Algiers-Caracas line, according to the air agreement concluded between Algeria and Venezuela, the line is undergoing the final touches before its launch.

The representative of the South African Ambassador to Algeria pointed out that the opening of the line will certainly strengthen relations between the two countries and inject economic dynamics between these two gateways to northern and southern Africa.

For his part, the CEO of Air Algérie affirmed that “the opening of this line which is in line with the guidelines of the President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, aimed at strengthening the international network of Air Algerie, is also included in the development plan of Algiers International Airport in order to position itself in Africa”.

For Mr. Benslimane, “the opening of the Algiers-Johannesburg line is very important for the African continent, in the sense that it constitutes a direct non-stop link between the extreme north and the extreme south of the continent”. This line “will make it possible to carry out commercial air bridges between the two countries and will transform Algiers International Airport into a real Hub towards the various destinations offered by the company in Europe, Asia, North America and South America” , he concluded.

APS