It is not unusual for investors to restart something that has disappeared before. The renaissance of Air Djibouti in 2015 was nevertheless something special. Djibouti's national airline was built with the help of maintenance company Cardiff Aviation.
Its owner is Bruce Dickinson - singer of the famous metal band Iron Maiden, who himself pilots his group around the world in a Boeing 747. After taking off with a Boeing 737-400, Air Djibouti's fleet currently consists of four aircraft. Although the Covid 19 pandemic has long since spread to Africa, where the health systems of many countries are weak, the national airline of the East African country wants to expand further.
Additional A320 later this year
Air Djibouti chief Abdourahman Ali Abdillahi plans to launch new routes to Dubai as well as to Cairo, reports African Aerospace. So far the airline flies to six destinations in Somalia, Swaziland, Ethiopia, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates. While the seat load factor was 40 percent in 2018 and 74 percent in 2019, this year the figure is expected to be at least 85 percent.
Air Djibouti will also expand its fleet to achieve this. It currently operates one short- and medium-haul Boeing 737-500 and Airbus A320 aircraft and two Embraer E145 short-haul jets. A second Airbus A320 will be introduced to the fleet by the end of this year.
