Emirates,- Clever Moves in Africa,- and Ireland,

Emirates' announcement of a 5 x weekly Dubai/Lusaka/Harare A330 service from 1st February is another good one by the Gulf carrier. It fills in a central African gap in their African network and offers Zimbabwe and Zambia useful high quality, high frequency links to China for the substantial numbers of worker and business traffic originating there. Tourism by the fast growing numbers of relatively affluent Chinese and other Asian professionals will be an added bonus. The one-stop routing to the UK and Europe's secondary cities via Dubai will also take some business away from existing flows via London,Johannesburg, Nairobi and Addis Ababa. There will also be some traffic to the Indian subcontinent and even Russia. Together these hubbing possibilities should give Emirates a more than satisfactory result. It would also benefit Zimbabwe and Zambia if they give the Gulf carrier local rights on the short sector between Lusaka and Harare as every additional frequency by any airline stimulates local business. Traditionally such sectors have been "blinded " to protect local carriers which is always to the detriment of other businesses which thrive on frequent air links so rare in most of sub Saharan Africa other than within South Africa.

The five frequencies of this operation leave Emirates with another gap which would logically be plugged by adding two more frequencies from Dubai to Lusaka but continuing to or triangulating with Lilongwe, which has no direct long haul services of its own and is a natural for attention from the Gulf airlines. Landlocked Malawi is often desparate for inbound cargo capacity while outbound it needs regular reliable outlets for its vegetable products. A connection to the world's air routes via the Gulf would be a significant benefit for the country and its economy.

In line with the simple hub formula that every new spoke needs another balancing one, Emirates is following Etihad and Qatar in starting a daily Dubai/Dublin service in January. This will not only appeal to travellers from the Irish Republic but also those to and from Northern Ireland who will use it to bypass the UK's prohibitive and still rising Air Passenger Duty charges. Dublin Airport is an easy drive from Belfast. An hourly coach link through most of the day takes 2hrs 5 mins for a fare of £17.50 return (£12.40 single). With that option available for travel to points east or south of the Gulf why would any cost conscious customer travel via the traditional routes from Belfast via London? It is surprising that the usually canny KLM is not already in Dublin chasing even wider hubbing opportunites both beyond the Gulf and between there, most of Europe, and points south (eg Africa) to which it could offer faster, more direct routings.