FLEET - Congo Airways plans to restart operations in Q1 2026, supported by the recent delivery of an Embraer E190 in Kinshasa.

Two more E190s are expected.

Congo Airways has signed an order for two E195-E2 aircraft. This order adds to the existing order for two E190-E2 aircraft. The contract, which encompasses four aircraft

Image:Congo Airways

 

FLEET / ROUTES - Congo Airways aims to resume five routes within Africa in 2024, including Douala, Dakar, Lagos, Bamako and South Africa, as well as launch flights to Dubai and potentially Brussels.

 

The carrier plans to lease with three A320s and one B777 to facilitate the expansion.

Photo: Congo Airways

FLEET - Congo Airways plans to lease three E190, with flights scheduled from February 2024.

Furthermore, negotiations are underway for the acquisition of a B777-200ER.
 

Congo Airways / A320-216 / 9S-ALU

Steven Picalausa

Congo Airways Orders Two E195-E2

São José dos Campos, Brazil, January 13, 2021 – Just six months after their first E2 order, Congo Airways has placed a firm order for two E195-E2 jets. This is in addition to their existing two aircraft order for the smaller E190-E2. The four aircraft deal has a total value of USD 272 million at current list prices. This new firm order will be included in Embraer’s 2020 fourth quarter backlog.




Desire Bantu, CEO of Congo Airways said, “We see an opportunity in our market and the crisis we are all facing for Congo Airways to emerge stronger – which is why we are not waiting to place this further order. These new jets will allow us to extend our passenger and cargo operations regionally to high demand destinations such as Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Abidjan. As we prepare for future success, we will have the flexibility, and the right sized, most efficient aircraft, to serve our customers as the market returns.”



“Africa has for too long been thought of as a market of mostly low frequencies and long thin routes. As airlines start ramp up their operations, the E2 family of aircraft is perfectly positioned to right size routes previously operated by narrowbodies, while keeping frequencies and adjusting capacity to new levels,” said Cesar Pereira, vice president of Europe, Middle East and Africa, Embraer Commercial Aviation. “Congo Airways will benefit from the flexibility provided by the common cockpit on the E2 jet family meaning their flight crews can transition seamlessly between variants.”



The E195-E2 will be configured in a dual class 120 seat layout, 12 in business, 108 in economy. An additional 25% capacity when compared to the 96-seat configuration chosen by Congo Airways for their E190-E2s. The E2 deliveries are expected to begin in 2022 with Embraer and Congo Airways continuing to review the potential to anticipate the beginning of the deliveries. There are currently 206 Embraer aircraft operating in Africa with 56 airlines in 29 countries.

Congo Airways begins int'l operations

Congo Airways (8Z, Kinshasa N'Djili) has made its international debut with the launch of 3x weekly regular flights to Johannesburg O.R. Tambo in South Africa.

Following repeated delays that pushed the launch date beyond its originally envisaged November 2017 launch date, Congo Airways' finally inaugural service took place on February 28 between Kinshasa N'Djili and Johannesburg via Lubumbashi. Operations are on-board A320-200 equipment featuring 15 seats in business class and 150 in economy.

Congo Airways currently operates an in-house fleet of two A320-200s and two Dash 8-400s all of which is supplemented with one A320-200 wet-leased from Nouvelair and one A319-100 wet-leased from Olympus Airways. Until this development, it had focussed exclusively on domestic flights across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The carrier's next international destinations to launch will be Douala (Cameroon) in March followed by Luanda (Angola), and Dubai Int'l.
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Congo Airways outlines regional, int'l expansion plans

Norbert Sengamali, the Sales and Marketing Director of Congo Airways (Kinshasa N'Djili), has outlined the carrier's proposed expansion plans insofar as regional and international operations are concerned.
Launched in October last year, the state-backed carrier operates a pair of A320-200s on flights connecting Kinshasa N'Djili with Gemena, Kisangani, Lubumbashi, Kananga, Goma, Kindu, Mbandaka, and Mbuji Mayi domestically. Service to more remote areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo such as Beni and Buta Zega is also planned with the upcoming arrival of its first two Dash 8-400s.

Outlining Congo Airways' medium- and long-term expansion plans, Sengamali told African Aerospace that the carrier's maiden regional destinations would be Johannesburg O.R. Tambo, Luanda, and Pointe Noire. Towards the end of this year, a further two A320-200s will arrive thereby allowing for the roll out of services to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta in Kenya, Lagos in Nigeria, and Abidjan in Cote d'Ivoire.

"In 2018, we want to go intercontinental. We are looking at wide-bodies," he said adding that Dubai Int'l and Guangzhou were currently being looked at.
Air France Consulting is providing technical assistance to the Congolese carrier.

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Congo Airways to launch flights this week

Congo Airways (Kinshasa N'Djili) will commence operations on Friday, October 9 the airline has announced via social media. The airline's inaugural route has yet to be disclosed though press reports indicate it will likely be Kinshasa N'Djili-Lubumbashi.

Operations are on-board a pair of A320-200s with a pair of turboprops (likely Dash 8-400s) expected to join the fleet in due course.

nitially, the carrier is expected to serve Lubumbashi, Kisangani, Goma, Mbuji Mayi, Kananga, Kindu and Mbandaka. Gbadolite, home to deposed kleptocrat Mobutu Sese Seko's now decaying jungle palace, has also applied for commercial service.
Regional operations are expected to commence later on next year.

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CONGO AIRWAYS - A320-200 - 9Q-CLU

The first of two ex Alitalia A320's which has been painted at Dublin.

Paul Quinn - Dublin -  Ireland

Congo Airways acquires two ex-Alitalia A320s

Congo Airways has acquired two A320-200s from Alitalia a Congolese government source has told the Agence France-Presse (AFP). Though the start-up had planned to begin operations at the end of June, Congolese Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo has now set an August launch date with the first of the A320s scheduled to arrive this month while the other will de delivered later next month.



From its Kinshasa N'Djili hub, Congo Airways will initially offer scheduled flights to eight local cities including Lubumbashi and Goma. With addition of more aircraft, said to include Dash 8-400s, the airline plans to expand its network to a total of fifty-four domestic and regional destinations.

The launch will coincide with government's recent unveiling of an upgraded and modernized Kinshasa Ndjili International Airport which now features a new terminal building and control tower. Built at a cost of USD80 million, the 10,000 square meter facility is capable of handling 1 million passengers per annum.

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