On Friday, Ethiopian Airlines announced new service from their West African Hub at Lomé, Togo three times weekly starting in December 2019. Starting May 6, 2020, Norwegian will offer the first-ever nonstop service from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport to Paris.
Today, Addis Ababa-based Ethiopian Airlines announced today that beginning December 2019, they will offer nonstop service from their Lomé, Togo Hub to Houston three times weekly. This will be the only direct connection between Houston and West Africa and is part of Ethiopian’s goal to bring Africa together and closer to the world. Houston has a large African population who will welcome the new service and many Houstonians in the oil and gas industry also have business interests in the region. In today’s announcement, Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO, Tewolde GebreMariam stated,
“The U.S. is one of the most important markets owing to the presence of a large African community and growing investment, trade and tourism relations with Africa. Our new route structure with additional frequencies to multiple gateways and the opening of a new route to Houston are aimed at responding to the market demand and availing the best possible connectivity between the USA and 63 African destinations on our route map. Ethiopian is operating both direct flights to/from its main hub in Addis Ababa and through its West African multiple hubs providing its valued customers direct services between the USA and East/West Africa Markets.”
Ethiopian Airways currently offers service to Washington D.C., New York and Chicago, and operates cargo routes to Miami and Los Angeles. The new Houston route will be operated with a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.
Source: Ethiopian Airlines
Norwegian Air Adds Austin-Paris to Summer 2020 Schedule
On Thursday, Norwegian Air announced they will be launching service between Austin, Texas and Paris, beginning May 6, 2020. This will be the first-ever direct nonstop service between Austin and Paris and Norwegian will offer one-way Economy fares starting at $219.90, including taxes. Premium Class one-way fares will start at $829.90. The new seasonal Austin-Paris route will be “summer seasonal” joining Norwegian’s Austin-London service introduced in March 2018. The Austin-Paris route will be operated three times weekly (Wednesday, Friday, Sunday) between May 6, 2020 and September 20, 2020, and twice weekly (Friday, Sunday) between September 25 and October 23rd. In Thursday’s announcement, Norwegian’s SVP Commercial, Matthew Wood stated,
“Austin is a great example of our seasonal focus, serving increased demand during the popular summer months. After two successful seasons of our London service, the need to grow our presence in Austin was clear. Paris is one of our most popular European destinations from the U.S. and with great growth potential in this market. Next summer, we have also increased the number of Austin to London flights to four weekly as our footprint expands.”
Austin will be Norwegian’s eighth U.S. gateway offering nonstop service to Paris. The airline already offers service from Boston, Denver, Fort Lauderdale, New York-JFK and San Francisco. Last week, Norwegian announced a new interline agreement with JetBlue Airways, allowing passengers on both sides of the Atlantic to seamlessly connect to further destinations.
Source: Norwegian Air