Colombe Airlines (CBL, Ouagadougou) on October 5 officially launched scheduled operations with a 4x daily return service between Burkina Faso's two economic hubs, Ouagadougou and Bobo Dioulasso. The flight was operated using an ATR72-200, EC-LNQ (c/n 303), on lease from Spanish ACMI specialists, Helitt Líneas Aéreas (Malaga). Initial operations will use two ATR72s with a third unspecified 150-seater aircraft scheduled to arrive by month end. "Our objective is to serve the sub-region of Central Africa because it is difficult to travel from Ouagadougou to that part of Africa, especially Chad. Indeed, we have to go through Addis Ababa and Gabon to get to Chad," said Pascal Tigahiré, the airline's CEO. The next domestic routes to be opened are to Fada N'gourma, Ouahigouya and Dori. In addition to planned cargo operations, Colombe Airlines intends to launch flights to the Middle East and China by year end.