Eritrean Airlines launched its inaugural flight into South Africa on Monday last week, in what has been called a historic milestone for relations between the two countries. For the rest of the year it will fly to Cape Town four times a week, bringing international visitors who joined the flight in Eritrean’s home airport of Asmara from some of its other destinations, including Rome, Frankfurt, Jeddah, Karachi, Lahore and Khartoum.
The airline expects most of its passengers to use it for connecting flights, as is the case with Emirates and KLM, at least in the beginning. But it hopes to build up a tourism market for Eritrea itself, and the country also has a growing mining industry which is already attracting business travellers from SA.
It has chosen South Africa as a destination because of its popularity with international tourists and because it is the leading economy in Africa. The airline is state-owned and was dormant for a time, but the government has revived it, leasing its fleet of Airbus aircraft complete with flight crew from European airlines.
Asmara was described in one of the Lonely Planet guides as “one of the most agreeable cities in Africa”, and David James, a former senior executive with South African Airways, who is now commercial director of Eritrean Airlines and lives in Asmara, says he agrees with this.
SOURCE: INDEPENDANT ONLINE
Toronto- and Australia-listed Chalice Gold late on Tuesday said it agreed to sell its 60% stake in the Zara gold project in Eritrea to China SFECO Group, a subsidiary of Shanghai Construction Group, for as much as $100-million.
Nevsun Resources advises that it has finalized its arrangements with the State of Eritrea regarding the purchase of 30% of the Bisha mine by the Eritrean National Mining Corp., or Enamco. The agreed price is $253.5M, which will be settled from the after tax cash flows generated by the Bisha mine. The purchase price determination was subject to a process involving two independent international institutions that were mutually appointed by Nevsun and Enamco in January 2011.
Uganda has invited Eritrea’s leader, President Isaias Afewerki, accused by the West of stoking Somalia’s Islamist rebellion and destabilising the east African region, to a state visit next week, Uganda’s State House said.
Eritrea is seeking to end its regional isolation and has applied for re-admission to an East African peace bloc four years after it pulled out, a statement said on Wednesday.
