Oneworld's presence grows in Africa with British Airways' new route to Liberian capital

British Airways (BA) is stepping up its presence in western Africa with a new service to Monrovia Roberts International Airport commencing 05-Nov-2012. Currently only two European airlines operate to Liberia’s capital, Brussels Airlines and Air France, and BA’s new service will indubitably challenge the leading position of Brussels Airlines in the small but high yielding Europe to Liberia market.

British Airways flights to to Monrovia, Liberia will begin November 5, 2012. Photo by Mark Winterbourne.

Transfer traffic from the US contributes notably to the load and profitability of European services to Liberia, and British Airways with its extensive trans-Atlantic network is well placed to capture a sizeable part of this market. BA's new flight to Monrovia will tag-on to the existing flight from London Heathrow to Freetown in Sierra Leone, which is a former bmi route and is presently operated twice a week with A330 that BA inherited from its acquisition of bmi.