OK I know, AT’s joining Oneworld won’t happen for 18 months. But hey, this is FT and we like discussing what might happen in the future, right? I’m just throwing this out there, to see what fellow FTers think of it – good points/bad points, that sort of thing
My first idea is that the definition of the continent of
North Africa should change to include the six North African countries that are currently defined to be part of Europe/Middle East
(the six countries are Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Sudan)
My second idea is that the Middle East should cease being part of Europe/Middle East and become part of a new continent, namely Africa/Middle East (and of course Europe will become its own continent)
AT’s Route Map
AT’s Route Map shows that the airline flies from Morocco to:
- various African destinations (including Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli and Cairo, but not Khartoum),
- various European destinations,
- a few Middle Eastern destinations (Beirut, Doha, Riyadh and Jeddah)
- three North American destinations (YUL, JFK and IAD)
- two South American destinations (GIG and GRU)
It does not fly further East than the Middle East, and its most southerly destination in Africa is Luanda, Angola. It does not connect to any Comair flights in southern Africa (Comair is the BA subsidiary that has small southern African network)
If the Current Definition does not change
Flying from the Americas to Morocco means you are flying to the continent of Europe/Middle East, NOT to Africa (so there will still be no North America-Africa flight available)
So AT will be just another Europe/Middle East carrier that flies to Africa, the same as BA, IB and QR. Adding a few more destinations there for sure, but not providing decent coverage of Africa
If North Africa becomes part of Africa
Flying from the Americas to Morocco means you are now flying non-stop to the continent of Africa
From Morocco you could use AT’s network to visit Africa, including North Africa
However, the only ways to proceed are:
- take a surface segment to southern Africa, and proceed from there (to Asia or South West Pacific)
- or fly to Europe/Middle East
Taking a surface segment to southern Africa means that Europe/Middle East can be avoided. This will make possible 3-continent itineraries that include both Africa and Nth America
(Nth America – Africa –Asia/SWP – Nth America)
If the new continent Africa/Middle East is defined- The continent would have four Oneworld carriers – AT, BA (Comair), RJ and QR
- Good coverage of the continent
- Good connectivity to other continents.
- Some intra-continent connectivity between AT and QR/RJ
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