Yemisi Izuora
In an effort to further expand its rapidly growing network and quickly establish itself as the leading carrier in the West and Central African Sub Region Air Cote D’Ivoire (HF) has concluded plans to connect Nigeria’s Federal Capital, Abuja to its hub airport in Abidjan. According to a statement by the airline, the service between the two strategic destinations is expected to commence effective February 15, 2016.
This is coming on the heels of its recent launch last month of the delivery of yet another brand new Dash 8-Q400 aircraft. The recently acquired airliner is one of three new aircrafts expected to join the carrier’s young fleet this year. A total of three weekly flights will be operated between both destinations in a two class configuration of 7 seat in Business Class and 60 seats in Economy class. The flights will depart from Abuja on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 09:20am and arrive in Abidjan at 11: 05am.They will depart from Abidjan at 7:25pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays to arrive in Abuja at 11:15pm. The above flights will be in addition to its current five flights weekly from Lagos.
The Country Manager -Nigeria, Mr. Moustapha Fofana said: “We thank our customers and partners for their massive support since commencement of our operations into Lagos a year ago. We have been listening to and working assiduously with our travel partners in order to meet the business and leisure needs of our esteemed customers. Connecting the city of Abuja through direct flights to Abidjan will not only open the region to seamless connectivity in the spirit of the Yamoussoukro Decision, but it will also go a long way to foster closer relations between Nigeria and Cote D’Ivoire, offer greater choice to customers, and significantly reduce travel time for passengers.”
Air Cote d’Ivoire is the national carrier of Cote d’Ivoire with a workforce of over 437 employees including more than 58 Pilots, 116 Cabin Crew and 30 Aircraft Engineers operating a young fleet of seven aircrafts comprising three A319s, one A320 and three Dash 8-Q400s.