Equatorial Guinea-based carrier, Cronos Airlines (C8), has officially launched flights to Port Harcourt in Nigeria out of its hub in Malabo. The carrier also plans to add flights to Abuja and Lagos during the course of the year as part of its Nigerian expansion plans.
The twice weekly service was launched to cater to the growing number of businessmen, oil executives and Ibgo traders plying the increasingly lucrative route between the two oil exporting port-cities.
Cronos Airlines (C8): Malabo - Port Harcourt
- C8777 SSG 1520 - 1600 PHC 146 2
- C8787 PHC 1650 - 1730 SSG 146 2
- C8777 SSG 1220 - 1300 PHC 146 7
- C8787 PHC 1350 - 1430 SSG 146 7
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| Cronos Airlines' BAe 146 in Johannesburg (photon5) |
In an interview with The Guardian, the Executive Chairman of Peacock Travels and Tours Limited, Chief Segun Phillips, Cronos' GSA in Nigeria, said Cronos also had an ambitious plan to commence flights from Malabo to Lagos and Abuja before the end of the year.
“Previously, the traders go by ship which is slow, hazardous and unsafe. The new air link between Port Harcourt and Malabo, which lasts for just 45 minutes, become a comfortable, fast and reliable option than going by ship,” he said.According to Phillips, Cronos is planning to sign interline deals with foreign airlines like Delta (DL) and possibly Emirates (EK) and/or Etihad (EY) as a means of linking Malabo to other oil producing cities in the world including Houston in United States and Dubai in United Arab Emirates.
