Air Côte d'Ivoire to Order Two A330neo

DALLAS - Airbus announced it had received an order for two Airbus A330neo aircraft from Air Côte d'Ivoire (HF), the flag carrier of Ivory Coast.

Airways reached out to Airbus, which confirmed that the HF order was for the A330-900. The airline had five A319s on order. Three were delivered and the remaining two were part of the conversion to two A330-900 aircraft.

The deal was revealed in Toulouse at Airbus' headquarters and was signed by officials from the airline and the European manufacturer, including Amadou Koné, Minister of Transport of Ivory Coast; Laurent Loukou, CEO of HF; General Abdoulaye Coulibaly, President of the HF Board; and Philippe Mhun, Airbus Executive Vice President for Programmes and Services.

This is the first time HF has ordered long-haul aircraft, which will allow the airline to reach new destinations in Europe, Asia, or the Middle East. This will help the Ivorian carrier compete with other African airlines, offering connecting flights between Africa and Europe, for example.

A New Ivorian Carrier

Currently, HF operates a medium-haul fleet with Airbus aircraft only, which includes one A320neo, two A320ceo, and three A319. Moreover, the airline flies Dash 8-Q400 regional turboprops from Bombardier on its shortest routes.

Since its launch in 2012, the airline has developed its network and now serves numerous African destinations from its base in Abidjan (ABJ) in the Ivory Coast, including most of the major African airports. The airline also flies to small regional airports in Ivory Coast with its smaller aircraft.

This month, HF offered almost 50,000 seats from ABJ, according to airlinedata.com. Moreover, the airline now operates about 54% of the flights from ABJ.

With this new A330-900 order, HF will be able to develop a new long-haul network.

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