Despite being one of the least rated, unreliable and dare I say dirty airlines, flying with Air Algerie is not without its charms. Domestically they give you prop planes and the planes have character.
Conversely the planes are really dirty and I do not just mean Josh Cahill being a tart dirty. They are also notoriously late. And one cannot ignore the fact that beggars really cannot be choosers in the Peoples Republic of Algeria.
Table of Contents
What the Air Algerie
Air Algerie is the national airline of Algeria and has been knocking about since 1947 when it started under French control before independence. After 1962 it became the state carrier, which essentially meant it got the monopoly whether it was good or bad. Over the decades they picked up Boeings and ATRs, opened and closed routes, went through endless restructuring and generally acted like a typical state airline that never had to compete. They are still fully government owned and still operate in that very old school socialist style where customer service comes somewhere after tea breaks and paperwork.
International Routes
Air Algerie actually flies to a surprising amount of places even if half of them run whenever they feel like it. Their main international hub is Algiers which they use to connect the homeland with France, Spain, Italy, Germany and the UK. Paris, Marseille and Lyon are by far their busiest routes because half of Algeria seems to live there. London is normally once or twice a week and usually delayed but you can sometimes get it for around 150 to 220 dollars one way on a good day.
They also hit the Middle East with flights to Dubai, Doha, Jeddah and also seasonal runs for pilgrims which are much more expensive. Then you have the African routes such as Tunisia, Morocco when politics allow it, Niger, Mali and Senegal. Ticket prices abroad vary wildly. Paris can be as low as 90 dollars one way at black market rate if you get lucky and as high as 250 dollars. Dubai normally sits between 180 and 260 dollars. Spain and Italy are usually the cheaper ones around 70 to 120 dollars one way depending on season and mood.
Long haul wise they go to Montreal which is a big Algerian community route and usually sits around 250 to 350 dollars depending on how the Dinar is behaving. They also talk endlessly about restarting Beijing and sometimes Istanbul acts as a long haul connector. In theory Air Algerie is connected to Europe, Africa, the Gulf and Canada. In practice you book a flight and cross your fingers.
Domestic routes with Air Algerie
Domestically Air Algerie is basically the bloodstream of the country with flights heading to every corner of the desert. Their main domestic hops include Algiers to Oran, Constantine, Ghardaia, Timimoun, Adrar, Tamanrasset and Djanet. They run ATR prop planes on most routes and Boeings on the bigger northern ones.
Prices are not actually horrific and usually run around 10 to 25 dollars at black market rate depending on how remote the place is. Oran is the cheap commute route. Ghardaia sits around mid range. And anything into the deep Sahara can be a bit more expensive but still hardly bank breaking. These routes exist because the roads would take you weeks and because Algeria is enormous. Seats are basic, check in is chaotic and baggage collection is basically a melee but it does generally get you where you need to go. Eventually.
What’s it like flying domestically with Air Algerie
To cut a long story short flying domestically with Air Algerie can only be described as funny. Basically let us start with how reliable it is with the chief answer being not reliable at all. Flights are quite literally always delayed and at least by one day.
And then there is this issue of seating. Seats numbers are assigned, but people basically sit where the hell they like. And yes this does rather make it more like a bus than a time machine.
We also felt like or at least were pretty sure that the pilot was smoking as we came in to land. I personally was OK with this as I would much rather he was less stressed. Overall though this is not how you appeal to an international audience.
Overall
OK so it was late bumpy and smoky. But much like the people of Algeria I now take a wee bit of pride that I have not just flown Air Algerie but more importantly have lived to tell the tale.
You can check them out on one of our Algeria Tours.
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