Air Algérie thinking on its fleet...

Air Algérie is embarking on a major re-fleeting exercise as it aims to bring a new generation of aircraft into service.

The Algerian national carrier issued a request for proposals (RfP) for 15 new aircraft in both the narrow-body and wide-body categories.

The planned new aircraft are split into four batches. The first two groups are for five and three narrow-bodies respectively, of up to 200 seats, while the remainder are split into five wide-body types of 300 seats and two of 400-seat capacity.

It is thought that the airline is prepared to either buy or lease the new aircraft. Responses to the RfP were required by late last year.

If the RfP leads to the acquisition of all the desired aircraft, it will mean a complete renewal of the north African airline’s wide-body fleet, which currently consists of eight Airbus A330-200s.

The bulk of the fleet – 57 aircraft – is made up of 33 Boeing 737NGs (mainly -800s with small numbers of -600s and -700s) 27 of which are in service.

For domestic flights to the country’s large network of regional airports – many of them serving oil and gas fields in the south of what is Africa’s largest country – the company uses 14 Franco-Italian ATR 72 turboprops, of which eight 72-500s and three 72-600s are currently in service.  

The airline’s route network is biased towards Europe, the northern half of Africa and the Middle East. It serves 73 destinations in 25 countries and, following the pandemic, has good links to France – unsurprisingly, given the historic ties between the two countries.

Air Algérie is steadily re-establishing its routes – for example, to sub-Saharan capitals such as Bamako, Ouagadougou and Abidjan – as well as opening new routes, such as Doha, in Qatar.