Air Djibouti, which went bankrupt in 2002, will return to the skies as part of the Red Sea state's target of becoming a major logistics hub. The airline is building four new ports, two airports and a US$3.5bn free-trade zone which, it is hoped, will be partially operational by next year.
Djibouti is well placed near the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, located between Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia. The state-owned carrier hopes to handle 1,000 tonnes of freight by the end of December.
Dawit Michael Gebre-Ab, Air Djibouti's Senior Director of Strategic Planning, commented on the additional plan for a Japan-Africa business forum held in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa: "It happens to be our major target, the air cargo business," he said. Gebre-Ab went on to explain that the airline plans to start services to Sudan, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana and countries in central Africa this year, carrying high value items ranging from laptops to temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals and spare parts for the oil industry. Additionally he remarked that the big Middle Eastern carriers would be among Air Djibouti's major competitors.
The Djibouti government signed a management deal with Cardiff Aviation, a company based in Wales, founded by Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson, giving the airline a much needed boost.
Dickinson told the BBC in June that his company's aim "is to let Air Djibouti represent the country in the best way possible."
If indeed this is the case, DHL is certainly primed to take up the new business at MEL.
