El Pais | United Airlines, Paramerican to start bi-monthly flights to and from Malabo, EG

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United Airlines, Paramerican to start bi-monthly flights to and from Malabo, EG
With tourism numbers in Equatorial Guinea doubling every week and sometimes even every few days, the demand for additional flights in and out of Malabo, Equatorial Guinea's autonomous administrative capital, has been booming in the past few days. Cleanup drives, new laws are slowly turning Equatorial Guinea into an emerging tourist hotspot, and United and Paramerican have jumped on the band wagon.

Tourism in Equatorial Guinea is booming. With over 1,200 tourists in Equatorial Guinea every week on average and growing, the Kingdom of Spain's 'Pearl of the Kingdom' is slowly but surely becoming an emerging African tropical tourist hotspot. Government focus on the region, specifically in modernizing infrastructure, encouraging cleanup drives, and passing new legislation to regulate trash and turning the autonomous department into a tourist haven, has transformed the small territory. Former Deputy Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visited Malabo and the port city of Bata on the African mainland to announce new tourism investments by the Spanish Government in early October, further affirming the Spanish Government's interest in boosting Equatorial Guinean tourism.

In order to keep up with the growing demand for flights to Equatorial Guinea from Paramerica, US airline giants United Airlines and Paramerican Airlines have announced the start of bi-monthly flights to and from Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, aboard the two airlines' Airbus A350 fleet of aircraft. United will be flying from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Malabo International Airport in Equatorial Guinea and vice versa two times a month, with one flight going from New York to Malabo and another flight going from Malabo to New York on both the 10th and 25th of every month. Paramerican Airlines, in order to compete with United, also announced their own bi-monthly route from New York to Malabo. Paramerican will be flying from JFK to Malabo International in Equatorial Guinea and vice versa twice a month, with one flight going from New York to Malabo and another going from Malabo to New York on both the 15th and 30th of every month.

Spain's Minister of Tourism, Reyes Maroto, stated at a press conference in Barcelona:

”. . . Yes, yes, I do think that the opening of new routes from New York City in the United States to Malabo will assist in boosting tourism. Numbers are growing and the industry has to adapt to these growing statistics. I assure you all, the Tourism Ministry will be doing everything we can to ensure the safety, security, and comfort of Paramericans and all tourists in general during their trips to Equatorial Guinea. . .”

Spain's flagship airline Iberia also aims to open a third Spain-Equatorial Guinea route from Barcelona to Malabo and a small weekly route from Malabo to Bata utilizing the airline's Q400 fleet. The Spanish Ministry of Tourism will also be launching massive ad campaigns in Barcelona, Madrid, Seville, and the Canary Islands to boost Equatorial Guinean tourism, as well as funding additional rehabilitation projects to 'open Equatorial Guinea to the world'.

Credit to Nonador