Korongo airlines first flight

[RoMax]

Wow, that's as good as daily then?
What is competition like on this route?

5 weekly by South African Express, with a CRJ700 (70 seats). But the demand is quite high actually, at least from what I heard.

The 'big competition' is on the FIH-FBM route with 10 weekly Congo Express (CRJ200), 7 weekly CAA (don't know the aircraft, but I suppose their A320's), 6 weekly flyCongo (MD82?) and 3 weekly Stellar Airways (A320).

[RoMax]

An article about the airports in the RDC:
http://direct.cd/2012/04/19/kinshasa-la ... de-ndjili/

[regi]

An article about the airports in the RDC:
http://direct.cd/2012/04/19/kinshasa-la ... de-ndjili/

Thank you for the article. Being involved myself with large projects of renovation of infrastructure in RDC, coupled with subsidies from several sides, I have a déjà vu feeling when I read such articles.
The article mentions that there are projects for renovation. That things will be done.
I have here a pretty large file dating back already about 10 years with similar vocabulary. To this day, not 1 of those large projects has been started yet. But a lot of money has been wasted on mutual visits, surveys, reports, consultants etcetera.
Even the Chinese get tired of it, and that says a lot.

[RoMax]

If even the Chinese get tired of it, I wonder why SN/Korongo/George Forrest get it done to renovate FBM and FIH and soon other RDC airports? I assume there is a lot of money behind it...?

[regi]

If even the Chinese get tired of it, I wonder why SN/Korongo/George Forrest get it done to renovate FBM and FIH and soon other RDC airports? I assume there is a lot of money behind it...?

Good remark !
It can succeed if no politicians, organisations, institutes are involved.
If it is just pure money, no problemo.
The infrastructure plans where I am involved don't take off just because of the involvement of all kind of "scavengers". ( and certainly not only Congolese ! I would even dare to say that because of too much influence by Brussels , the projects don't succeed )

[RoMax]

Found some other things about Korongo, including an image that seems to come from Brussels Airlines:



Nothing special I tought, until I noticed that Mbuji-Mayi is not only connected with Lubumbashi, but also with Kinshasa...? Will the flights continue to FIH, or will they offer flights out of FIH to Mbuji-Mayi, or is it just a fault on the image or do I understand it wrong?

About the first flight to JNB. It arrived yesterday in JNB, but as you know it stays quite long overthere to get some maintenance and it leaves again on Friday. So today was the first return flight to FBM. Apperently there were 40 passengers on board of the 733 (126 seats => 31,7% loadfactor). Christophe Allard, CEO of Korongo, told to the press that they expect the pax numbers to grow exponentially.
He also said that there is a significant demand for more flight frequencies, more capacity and lower fares.

I already knew they had a promotional fare of 299 USD on the FBM-FIH route (one-way). For JNB their promotional fare is 310 USD one-way. Allard points out this is significant lower than the monopoly fare of South African Express (the only competitor on the route).

[sn26567]

I am struck by their motto: "With Korongo Airlines, you're already there". It reminds me of Sabena: "Avec Sabena, vous y seriez déjà"!

[regi]

I am struck by their motto: "With Korongo Airlines, you're already there". It reminds me of Sabena: "Avec Sabena, vous y seriez déjà"!

As long as nobody comes up with a sarcastic translation of the abreviation, as with S.A.B.E.N.A. ( such a bad experience never again ) it is fine.
Profit: I am surprised to see those high prices. But again, it confirms what most of us knew before: in Africa you pay much more for flying than in other regions.
So if the planes are not full, it doesn't matter so much. And they don't have to bother about trying to sell all kinds of stuff to scrap the pennies together.
Load factor: despite that Africa is now also connected to the WWW, the Radio TamTam is more important. Meaning: mouth to mouth advertising. Let us assume that 95% of the Congolese will never travel by air, it is very important to deliver a good product to those remaining 5%. No Congolese will complain about old Sabena airplanes which use too much fuel and cost too much. Congolese are happy that there are flights and more connections to begin with. Secondly they are as much concerned about safety as westerners. Luggage allowance is a sensitive subject in Africa . ( and the kind of luggage ).
I do also assume that those 5% Congolese will appreciate punctuality a lot. They are not used to have that luxury. But when it will happen, Radio TamTam will do its job.
I hope that the Congolese travellers will post their experiences on internet fora as well. And I am looking forward about the comparison between the experience of a western NGO consultant and a Congolese business woman.
Let us hope that Korongo will do better than this:
http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/hewabora.htm

[spagiola]

So, two weeks in, how are things going?

[RoMax]

Le Potentiel:

http://www.lepotentiel.cd/2012/05/l%E2% ... %BB-2.html

Korongo au rendez-vous du 1er mai

Nouveau-née des compagnies aériennes en RDC, Korongo airlines a également pris part à ce défilé. Non seulement, la société participe à la création d’emplois durant ce deuxième quinquennat du président Joseph Kabila qui met un accent particulier sur le social, Korongo airlines veut aussi apporter sa pierre à la construction d’un avenir meilleur en assurant un travail décent aux Congolais.

A peine installée en RDC, la compagnie veut offrir un service de qualité. Elle propose des vols intérieurs, notamment vers Kinshasa et Lubumbashi ; à l’extérieur vers l’Afrique du Sud et la Belgique. Korongo airlines est la seule compagnie qui propose un vol direct sur Bruxelles à partir de Lubumbashi. L’autre avantage est que la compagnie propose des vols intérieurs en nocturne. Ce qui donne la possibilité, notamment pour les hommes d’affaires, de commencer la journée dans la ville. A noter aussi que les appareils de Korongo airlines seront régulièrement en check up en Afrique du Sud, un pays qui offre des garanties par rapport à la qualité des infrastructures.

A l’occasion de ce grand défilé, Korongo airlines a eu l’occasion de présenter une partie de son personnel, formé conformément aux normes de l’aéronautique internationale et prêt à offrir le meilleur service possible à sa clientèle.

It seems Korongo took the opportunity to present them as an attractive employer in DRC and to make some publicity at May 1.