In October 2022, Air Côte d’Ivoire placed a fascinating wide body aircraft order, and the airline even plans to introduce a first class product. I’d like to take an updated look at this, as these exciting planes are expected to be delivered in the near future…
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Air Côte d’Ivoire adding Airbus A330-900neo to fleet
Air Côte d’Ivoire, the national airline of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, has placed a firm order for two Airbus A330-900neo aircraft. The aircraft order is directly with Airbus, rather than through a third party leasing company. The airline currently has a fleet consisting of 11 planes, including eight Airbus A320-family aircraft, plus three De Havilland Dash 8 aircraft.
Interestingly, pictures from several months ago already show both A330-900neos in the carrier’s livery, one with engines, and one without engines, so it seems like at least one of the deliveries should be imminent (or is there a delay with cabin interiors, a la Lufthansa?).
The company has recently secured financing for the jets from the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), with a government spokesperson stating the following:
“The financing under this agreement will enable Air Côte d’Ivoire to launch direct and regular long-haul flights from Abidjan to major American and European cities such as New York and Paris, as well as several other international destinations. The project specifically includes the acquisition of two long-haul Airbus A330-900neo aircraft, each with a capacity of 242 seats, to support the growth of Air Côte d’Ivoire, reduce air travel costs, and improve our country’s air connectivity.”
For those not familiar, the A330neo is the updated version of the A330, featuring improved range and fuel efficiency. The A330-900neo is the larger of the two new variants (with the other being the A330-800neo). The plane has a range of 7,350 nautical miles, plus a capacity for 287 passengers in a standard three cabin configuration.
Air Côte d’Ivoire had previously ordered two Airbus A319neos, but that order has since been canceled. This new A330-900neo order seems to be part of a swap. The airline will be the fourth A330neo operator in Africa, after Air Mauritius, Air Senegal, and Uganda Airlines.
Air Côte d’Ivoire will introduce first class
Air Côte d’Ivoire executives have revealed that the A330-900neo is expected to feature just 242 seats in a four class configuration, meaning the plane will have first class, business class, premium economy, and economy. While the exact seat count for each cabin isn’t yet known, it’s pretty noteworthy that Air Côte d’Ivoire plans to introduce first class.
Air Côte d’Ivoire will be the first airline to install first class on the Airbus A330neo, and will only be the second airline in Africa to offer first class, after TAAG Angola (which I’ve flown, and it was… not great).
While the decision to include first class may make some wonder whether the airline is profit or prestige driven, in fairness, Abidjan has quite a bit of premium demand. For example, it’s one of the only destinations in Africa to which Air France sometimes flies a Boeing 777 with a first class cabin.
With just 242 seats, this will indeed be a pretty premium layout. For example, Air Mauritius’ A330-900neos feature 287 seats, and Air Senegal’s A330-900neos feature 290 seats.
With the plane just months from entering service, I can’t wait to learn the details about what interiors Air Côte d’Ivoire has selected. Does anyone have any insights or clues? I really can’t even begin to express how curious I am…
How Air Côte d’Ivoire plans to launch long haul flights
As it stands, Air Côte d’Ivoire exclusively operates flights within Africa from its hub, Félix-Houphouët-Boigny International Airport in Abidjan (ABJ). So, what’s the airline planning to do with its Airbus A330-900neos? Well, the company has big growth plans.
Once the A330-900neo joins the fleet, the goal is to first fly to Paris, which is logical enough. However, the Paris to Abidjan route is also operated by Air France and Corsair. At one point Air France even operated an Airbus A380 on this route, to give you a sense of the amount of traffic.
Without any partnerships, Air Côte d’Ivoire would be focused primarily on point-to-point traffic. The airline does have a decent network in Africa, so at least the airline would have some connecting traffic from within Africa for its services to Europe and the United States. Still, the economics will be tough.
Beyond that, Air Côte d’Ivoire claims that it’s planning on launching flights to Brussels, London, New York, and Washington, by 2027. Now, I wouldn’t put too much weight into those plans just yet. In late 2022, when this order was placed, executives at the airline claimed United States service would happen by early 2025, and now the timeline has been pushed back considerably.
I have a hard time imagining that this expansion is driven by an actual plan for profitability, rather than just prestige and dreams. For example, just look at the struggles that Air Senegal has had with its A330-900neos, as the airline has tried to grow. The airline has already cut its Dakar to New York route, as the airline has been hemorrhaging money, and is looking to cut costs.
Bottom line
In late 2022, government-owned Air Côte d’Ivoire placed an order for two Airbus A330-900neos. These are expected to join the carrier’s fleet in the near future, before the end of the year, and will be used for long haul expansion.
Specifically, Paris is expected to be the first destination, with plans to expand to other points in Europe (London & Brussels) and the United States (New York & Washington) by 2027.
The A330-900neos are expected to feature just 242 seats in a four class layout, meaning the airline will have first class, business class, premium economy, and economy. I’m always excited about a new airline getting wide body jets, though it remains to be seen how successful the company will be with this major expansion.
What do you make of Air Côte d’Ivoire’s Airbus A330-900neo plans? Anyone have any clues about the carrier’s first class? And does anyone know when these deliveries might actually happen, and what the holdup is?
I think the biggest problem for airlines like this is the fact that they have no partners/no network and the relative pricing compared to other options. This said, I think there is one aspect that you did not mention. Many countries do not have special planes for their diplomats or government officials and they fly commercial, which is usually in first or business class. I have been on commercial flights coincidentally with such people before.
Speaking of premium A330-900neo, the complete opposite if that would be the 459-seat Cebu Pacific A330-900neo. Any plans to review that torture chamber? ;)
Thanks for the great article, I'm very curious to see what their onboard cabin offerings will be like.
One point of clarification, you mention that Air France sometimes sends it's LP-equipped 77W's to ABJ, but in reality ABJ is served daily by an LP service and is currently the only destination in Africa that receives LP service (unless of course you are also counting DXB).
Dubai is in Asia, not Africa
Ben, as an avgeek expat based in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, I've followed these planes with great interest. Please note that they are still waiting for the cabins to be installed. Specifically the premium eco and eco seats, currently being manufactured in Naples, Italy. Apparently testing and certification took longer than expected. Not sure if they are doing new seats as I would expect that at least economy seat for Air CdI should be pretty standard...
Ben, as an avgeek expat based in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, I've followed these planes with great interest. Please note that they are still waiting for the cabins to be installed. Specifically the premium eco and eco seats, currently being manufactured in Naples, Italy. Apparently testing and certification took longer than expected. Not sure if they are doing new seats as I would expect that at least economy seat for Air CdI should be pretty standard stuff.
In October it was announced that these planes would be delivered in March and April 2025, but we are now looking at July and August. Initial delivery was scheduled to December 2024.
Configuration will be 4 First, 44 Biz, 21 PE and 173 Eco, and they do of course promis an exceptional travel experience, including 'the latest technological innovations (each seat with 4K screens) and wifi connection.
Speaking of routes, Paris is the main target. Fares ex-ABJ are incredibly high, even in economy, RT ABJ-Europe-ABJ can be 2,500-3,000 USD, while Europe-ABJ-Europe can be as low as $500-$600. In addition, the US i mentioned, but also destinations as LON, GVA, IAD and BEY, JNB, has been mentioned. BEY is probably the better option, as there is a large Lebaneese minority in the country, and they are in general quite wealthy.
ABJ is certified for routes to the US and did previously had an agreement with ET on the ADD-ABJ-JFK, now moved to LFW-JFK due to ET partnership with KP. My understanding is that the route were some sort of government-subsidized by the Ivorian state.
For the ABJ-CDG route, my understanding is that there still pending signatures on paperwork for the airline to operate such route and there is no official announcement, not ticket sales for the route. For the record, once launched, the HF-flight will be the fourth daily flight to Paris alongside AF's two daily to CDG and SS' daily to ORY (some days 2 times a day).
Will be interesting to see the development for aviation ex ABJ with these additions, and in the region in general, with the long-waited aviation tax reform to be implemented by 1 Jan 2026 as per the agreement between the 12 ECOWAS countries (might worth an article itself).
In general, things take time down here, and I wouldn't bet my life on being able to fly with these planes on this side of Christmas.
Air CdI recently visited Boeing, so there might be more in the air.
@ Rapolo -- Amazing insights, thank you!! I assume you have no clue as to what first and business class seats the airline chose? I'm curious if first is actually a "proper" first class, or more of a "business class plus" that's simply being marketed as first class.
I don't have anything firm, but if I should speculate I would say Stelia Opal. The reason for that being an article published when the deal was announced back in 2022, which included a picture of that seat. Also, the two new A320s HF got delivered from Airbus back in 2017 had Stelia seats. I guess it can make sense that HF, when making a small order, does not go outside of the Airbus system...
I don't have anything firm, but if I should speculate I would say Stelia Opal. The reason for that being an article published when the deal was announced back in 2022, which included a picture of that seat. Also, the two new A320s HF got delivered from Airbus back in 2017 had Stelia seats. I guess it can make sense that HF, when making a small order, does not go outside of the Airbus system to source seats, and rather do the full Airbus package (Stelia being owned by Airbus).
The Opal is nothing exceptional. Would love to see HF go neck to neck with AF and install the Opera. Or even to be very conspiratorial, Stelia launched the new Rendez-Vous seat almost at the same time as HF purchased these birds.
For the first class I guess expectations should be kept low. West Africa (and most of Africa in genera) is very good in acknowledging business passengers, and that they should get a different service than economy. However, there is a very different perception of what is great service/luxury compared to what you would see in Europe or East Asia. My impression of luxury in Ivory Coast in general is that it is more about hard product than the soft product, and, unfortunately, the hard product is often subpar. It's like when flying with i.e. KQ, they are very friendly and very proud when they serve what could have been other airlines' economy meal, but with a white tablecloth. I bet they beat DT, but not much beyond that.
Hopefully there will be a bit more competition and the ridicolous high fares will be lowered. It will be interesting to see how this evolves.
It never ceases to amaze me that it seems every foreign airline develops a strategy that it must fly to the USA despite how unprofitable doing so may be.
The fact that they're prioritising routes to a country whose influence on the world is diminishing by the day over ones to a superpower actively investing and trying to expand in their home region is worth thinking about.....
Put a fork in it--it's cooked. Any time one of these airlines starts widebody flying it's curtains, just like Senegal
Hmmm. Maybe they'll do it like Air Namibia....have two A330neos on rotation to Paris.....if they manage an agreement with AF, that could then allow their passengers to connect to other destinations....
@ Max -- Wait, Air Namibia A330neos? What did I miss?!?
They only have 2 ceos (-200)
@ Mike O. -- I thought they used to have two A330s, and have been out of business since 2021?
Touché, had rather than have ;)
Mathematically, I'm not sure how they'll do 5 long-haul destinations with 2 aircraft, unless they think 2-3x/week is an adequate frequency. Moreso with ABJ-NYC being about 24hrs r/t.
Then again, if this is prestige-driven, then...
Is it on the list of new airlines for you to try?! Aside from that, there are other airlines in the continent for you to try. Air Senegal, Air Algérie just to name a few.
@ Mike O. -- Before the end of the year, I'm planning a big Africa trip. I'd like to give TAAG another try, along with Air Mauritius, Air Senegal, Air Tanzania, Uganda Airlines, etc.
I’m sure you’ll avoid all these and get in another review of Emirates F instead
@ Aaron Tan -- It looks like you've been pretty cranky in the comments section for quite some time, and you mention Emirates first class more than I do (I haven't flown it in over a year). So let me ask, which product would you like to see me review? I'll make an effort to fly it...
Rwandair review would be great (given Qatar's investment, it may be a OW contender)
@ Anon -- I'm open to doing RwandAir again, though I reviewed the carrier's A330 several years ago, and I don't think much has changed:
https://onemileatatime.com/rwandair-business-class-a330-review/
My plan is to fly the airline again once the new airport in Kigali opens.
@Ben, is there a routing for EgyptAir that does not go through Cairo? ;)