After 14 years of interruption, adventure tourism specialists and desert lovers will be able to resume the road to Djanet and the fabulous Algerian desert.
It’s the change to the Quai d’Orsay menu that opens up new horizons in the desert. On Wednesday, the Djanet region, a major gateway to southern Algeria, turned from red to orange.
“When the region was in red for security reasons, the insurance did not cover us,” recalls Maurice Freund, the founder of the Point Afrique cooperative. “The situation is now completely calm. We have the support of the French Embassy. »
According to him, the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs could even switch the zone to yellow (reinforced vigilance) in January 2023. This would be a new and important step, if not decisive, for the revival of the Algerian Sahara.
Geopolitics and tourism
The gradual evolution of travel advice comes a few days after Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne’s visit to Algeria. In the medium term, Paris hopes for an increase in deliveries of Algerian gas, against the backdrop of an energy crisis fueled by the war in Ukraine.
The Prime Ministers of the two countries “expressed their mutual interest in increasing their cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector”, indicates a joint press release of October 9, 2022. And they “welcome” the “strengthening of air links between the two countries”, confirming “the return to full application, from October 31, 2022, of the Franco-Algerian Agreement on air transport services, signed in Paris on February 16, 2006”.
A flight from Paris to Djanet
Passionate about Africa and the desert, the tireless Maurice Freund is already in the starting blocks. “We haven’t returned to Algeria for 14 years,” he regrets.
“Yesterday, I spent my day with Air Algérie and the consul general in Paris. We obtained slots for a flight departing from Orly at 10 p.m. on Saturday, with a return on Sunday at 8 a.m. This chartered flight will be operated with a Boeing 737-600 on Djanet. “Air Algérie will put this plane on its account, and will thus have an Algiers-Paris flight in the evening, and a Paris-Algiers in the morning. »
It remains to know the bill for this operation, which the Point-Afrique cooperative supports, and to convince tour operators. “Adventure TOs have to follow me. I know that Jean-François Rial (CEO of Voyageurs du Monde, editor’s note) will put all his energy into the destination. »
Voyageurs du Monde ready to commit
Voyageurs du Monde has not returned to Algeria for… 20 years, explains Jean-François Rial. Under its brands, Terdav, Nomade, will Allibert reprogram southern Algeria this winter? “Yes, answers the CEO. And we are going to make a strong commitment to help Maurice Freund. »
“It’s a bit complicated, but I’m very confident,” concludes the boss of Point-Afrique. “As far as visas are concerned, the Consul General in Paris has promised us that visas will be obtained in less than eight days for this flight, whether the traveler is from Paris, Strasbourg or Nantes. »
According to the list of destinations published by L’Echo Touristique, the operator sent no less than 3,350 customers to the area in 2005, with its specialist hiking partners. And it recorded peaks of 1200 passengers per week in 2007, with flights between France and Tamanrasset, Djanet and Timimoun, remembers Maurice Freund. Impatient to see its first flight take off on December 17, to a desert considered by many travelers to be the most beautiful in the world.
