Eritrean Airlines (B8), the Eritrean national carrier, has announced that effective 1 October 2012, it will drop Frankfurt, Germany from its route network. The route is currently serviced once weekly via Rome, Italy using an Airbus A319, down from its original 3x weekly frequency when the route was inaugurated in April.
Asmara to Rome Italy, will remain at 2x weekly service.
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| An Eritrean Airlines A319 in Asmara, Eritrea (UR-SDV) |
► Effective until 30 September 2012
Eritrean Airlines: Asmara, Eritrea - Rome, Italy - Frankfurt, Germany
- B8370 ASM0001 – 0620FCO0720 – 0930FRA1045 – 1845ASM 319 | 6
Eritrean Airlines: Asmara, Eritrea - Rome, Italy
- B8370 ASM0350 – 0950FCO 319 | 2
- B8371 FCO1050 – 1720ASM 319 | 2
► Effective 2 October 2012 onwards
Eritrean Airlines: Asmara, Eritrea - Rome, Italy
- B8370 ASM0001 – 0620FCO 319 | 6
- B8370 ASM0350 – 0950FCO 319 | 2
- B8371 FCO0720 – 1350ASM 319 | 6
- B8371 FCO1050 – 1720ASM 319 | 2
Eritrean Airlines has, of late, been prone to inconsistency and seemingly amateurish route planning as its axing of Frankfurt after only 6 months of service comes on the back of its dropped Asmara - Johannesburg - Cape Town, South Africa route, which operated for just 3 weeks in May. Eritrean then cited "a critical shortage of jet fuel at the airline's home base of Asmara, that necessitated additional stops (in Entebbe, Uganda) for fuel on both south and northbound flights which, as a result, forced its operational costs to rise to prohibitive levels that were not offset by revenue from current passenger loads, " as the root cause for its pulling out of the route.
No cause for Frankfurt's cancellation has been given, though low yields are a likely bet.
