Getting There
No Longer Difficult to Reach |
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ith the economic boom, Equatorial Guinea is no longer difficult to reach. Although the mainland part of the country, and especially the port city of Bata, is developing rapidly, the capital Malabo (airport code: SSG) continues to be the main transportation hub served by international carriers. It is also the base for local airline companies.
Currently 14 airlines operate flights from Malabo, with direct connections to 10 cities. There are 154 international flights and 49 domestic flights a week.
Among major international carriers, Lufthansa, Air France, Iberia and Ethiopian have daily flights to Malabo (from Frankfurt, Paris, Madrid and Addis Ababa, respectively), while Royal Air Maroc flies there from Casablanca five times a week.
And Equatorial Guinea has its own, growing airline industry. The national airline is Ceiba Intercontinental, which in 2014 is adding three Boeing 737-800s to a fleet of six airplanes, made up of a Boeing 777, a Boeing 767, and four turboprop ATRs. Ceiba currently serves 11 international cities, including Madrid and Sao Paulo, and plans to use the new planes to serve additional destinations.
Punto Azul operates three 50-passenger Embraer Jet 145 aircraft, with three daily flights between Malabo and Bata and, beginning in 2014, three weekly flights to Libreville (Gabon), Douala (Cameroon) and Accra (Ghana). The planes and crew are provided under a lease agreement with a South African company.
Cronos Airlines operates three flights a day between Malabo and Bata and two a week between Malabo and Mongomeyen, which will serve the future capital, Oyala, on the mainland. It also operates three flights a week to Douala (Cameroon), Cotonou (Benin) and Port Harcourt (Nigeria). The Cronos fleet includes a BAe Series 200 and 300, and an Airbus A320 200.
Air Annobon, named after the Equatorial Guinean island of that name, runs daily flights between Malabo and Bata. In 2014 it received delivery of a 112 passenger BAe RJ85, which it uses on this route.
There is also a weekly sea ferry service (passengers and vehicles) between Malabo and Bata, leaving Friday mornings from Malabo and returning Saturdays from Bata. The trip across the Gulf of Guinea takes about seven hours.
Americans are fortunate in being the only nationality that does not need a visa. This is a concession to the oil and gas companies, which are by far the largest foreign investors. Most are based in the United States.
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