Middle-Eastern giants Qatar Airways and Emirates have both started operations in Tunisia, and the opening of several new routes connecting Tunis with Europe and West Africa is scheduled in 2007. Karthago and Nouvelair, the two national private companies, are in talks to prepare an alliance which might take the form of a full-fledged merger. Both companies are anticipating local and foreign competition to heat up, as the authorities are pushing the open-skies policy forward. The construction of the Enfidha airport will change the landscape even more.The call for tender procedure is due to end soon, with many foreign companies competing for the contract. The government has entered a Build-Operate-Transfer deal, with foreign partners footing the bill on construction and maintenance expense in exchange for commercial exploitation of the site for an agreed period. This new airport, which should be completed in 2009, will initially handle 5-7 million passengers per year,
