Between the tourist record traveling between the US and Europe since the pandemic, airlines have been laser-focused on the continent with new routes to smaller cities that saw growing tourist interest but previously could only accessible by train or smaller local airline. United Airlines launched new seasonal routes (UAL) and Delta Air Lines (DAL) earlier this year include Venice and Porto in northern Portugal.
However, with many of these new routes already up and running, airlines are beginning to turn their sights to a more underserved continent with high traveler demand for late 2024 and 2025. Last month, the budget airline Norse Atlantic (NRSAF) announced that it will begin operating a new route of 5,188 nautical miles route from London to Cape Town in an attempt to “break the monopoly” of having to choose between British Airways and South African Airways.
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Amid widespread attention to the fact that a low-cost airline was launching a route to such a distant destination, other airlines began steadily to sweep the African market. Last week, Delta announced it would bring back the New York-Lagos route it had put on hiatus in 2022, while also upgrading the planes it uses for flights to Ghana and South Africa.
“A total of 14 weekly flights to Nigeria”
Launched on December 1, the flight between JFK and Nigeria’s largest city will operate daily with an Airbus A330-200 (EADSF) and complement the Atlanta-JFK route that was previously the airline’s only direct route to the country.
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“Delta operates daily service between Atlanta and Lagos and, with the resumption of daily New York-JFK service, will offer a total of 14 weekly flights to Nigeria in December through the first fortnight of January and 10 weekly flights for the rest of the winter. 2024,” the airline announced.
As a further part of its expansion of service to Africa, Delta will also upgrade the aircraft operating its daily flight between JFK and Accra, Ghana to the 281-seat Airbus A330-900neo. Daily flights to Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa from Atlanta will also eventually be transferred to Airbus A350-900 aircraft capable of carrying up to 350 passengers.
The latest plane also features a larger number of business class lie-flat beds and premium economy seats that will make the flight more marketable to higher class travelers.
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Delta wants to be the “largest US carrier in Africa,” but other airlines are moving in
All of this is an effort to become, as Delta puts it, “the largest US carrier in Africa” by seriously boosting its flights to the continent over the next two years.
While it currently holds that title, other airlines have also set their sights on an often-overlooked market. In March 2024, United Airlines as well announced her plans to expand its services to Africa with six new flights from its hubs at Newark and Washington Dulles airports.
These include flights to Cape Town and Johannesburg alongside new routes to Lagos, Ghana’s Accra and Marrakesh, Morocco.
The latter is particularly a response to the growing interest in the region from tourists rather than members of the diaspora or people associated with the region.
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