Tunisia-based carrier Express Air Cargo has finally launched commercial flights, more than a year after it planned to take to the air to create “a bridge between Europe and Africa”.
The airline, a subsidiary of Express Logistic, the UPS partner in Tunisia, made its first flight from Tunis to Paris Charles de Gaulle on February 25 with its first B737-300 freighter. It plans to take delivery of a second B737F in the coming weeks.
Express Air Cargo stated on its website that its first destinations will be Paris, Cologne and Malta. It plans to extend flights from Tunisia to cities in sub-Saharan Africa, thus creating an air cargo network linking Europe and Africa. No timings were given for the service launches.
“Express Air Cargo’s aim is to offer daily scheduled services linking 15 African countries to the main European cities thanks to its fleet. Express Air Cargo is (a) multi-phase project aiming to ensure maximum coverage of the African continent linking Koln (Cologne) and Paris CDG hubs to the main African capitals (51 countries),” it stated.
The airline claimed that it “addresses customers’ needs in two continents: Africa and Europe. Its major aim is to deliver quality services and strengthen the customer experience by providing different offers”.
The Express Air Cargo project was originally unveiled in autumn 2015, with a planned three-year investment of some 46 million dinars (€21 million). It is unclear why the launch has been delayed by over a year.
Anis Riahi, managing director of Express Logistic – UPS, said at the time that he wanted to make Tunisia into a cargo hub for Africa, with daily flights to 51 destinations across the continent, including North, West, Central and Southern Africa. He named South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana among the planned destinations.
He said Express Air Cargo would take off in January 2016 with two planes (one B737 and one CRJ 200), add four more aircraft (one B767, a second CRJ 200 and two Cessnas) in April 2016 and be expanded to a fleet of seven planes with a second B767 by September 2016.
