Safi Airways, the international airline from Afghanistan, has completed 500 days of operations on its Frankfurt –Kabul route.

The inaugural flight in June 2009 was the first direct international flight by the airlines. In addition to celebrating its “half millennium days” Safi Airways will also welcome its 50,000th passenger on this route.

Safi Airways has been connecting Kabul three times weekly nonstop from Frankfurt.

With morning departures from Kabul on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, passengers can easily board their connecting flights to their onward destinations within Europe in addition to the late afternoon nonstop flights from Frankfurt to Washington DC, Chicago and New York with a two and a half hours connecting time.

“We are very happy to welcome our 50,000th passenger onboard, on a day when we also celebrate 500 days of service on this successful Frankfurt- Kabul route,” said Claus Fischer, chief commercial office at Safi Airways.

“This corroborates the high demand that exists for a reliable and comfortable service to and from Afghanistan. Since the first day of service, we have received a great response from our passengers and our flights have witnessed good passenger load.”

“The average load factor continuously exceeds our expectations and to witness an 80 per cent passenger load in October 2010 is extremely pleasing and a clear indication of the acceptance that Safi Airways has among air travelers,” he added.

During summer this route operates five times a week to cater to the increased demand and in December 2009 the aircraft was upgraded from a Boeing 767 to a 285-seater Airbus A340-300 aircraft, thus increasing capacity on the route. During the summer of 2010 this route saw an average of over 7,300 passengers every month.

Christoph Götzmann, VP Cargo of Safi Airways, said: “The provision of aid, supply of goods and the development of a strong infrastructure for foreign trade is highly important for the political stabilization and the economic development of Afghanistan.”

“Every flight between Frankfurt and Kabul carries a cargo capacity of 20 tonnes onboard our Airbus A340-300 aircraft. We are very happy that a lot of renowned aid organizations and freight forwarders count on Safi Airways for their transportation needs. Considering the huge demand and need, we will soon be launching our outbound cargo business from Afghanistan,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service