■ KENYA: Mass delays at Nairobi JKIA after pipeline fault starves airport of Jet A1.

Nearly two thousand passengers, among them 49 athletes from the Kenyan athletics team heading to the IAAF Athletics World Championships in Moscow were, on the night of Monday August 5, stranded at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport after the main pipeline supplying jet fuel to the airport malfunctioned resulting in the mass cancellation of flights.

► TUNISIA: Tunisair believed to have cancelled its order for three A350-800s.

Tunisia's national carrier, Tunisair (TU), has apparently backed out of plans to acquire three Airbus A350-800s, the shortest fuselage version in Airbus' new A350 XWB family of mid-sized widebody airliners, after the European aircraft manufacturer failed to list the order in its May 2013 orders summary.

►► RÉUNION: Air Austral, Air France announce new flights following passage of Cyclone Dumile.

[UPDATE 6 JANUARY] The passage of tropical Cyclone Dumile over the Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius and Reunion have had their affect on the local aviation industry with Air France (AF) and Air Austral (UU) having to postpone and in some cases, cancel flights. Listed below are the reassigned flights.

► KENYA: Jetlink Express ceases operations citing South Sudanese forex crunch.

Citing "an inability to access USD2million (KES171million) worth of funds tied up in South Sudan", Kenya's Jetlink Express (J0) has announced that effective today, Friday 16 November 2012, it is suspending operations.

►► INDIA: Ethiopian goes daily 787 to Mumbai from November.

[UPDATE 7 NOVEMBER 2012] With its third Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner (MSN: 34747 | ET-AOS) now just recently delivered, Ethiopian Airlines (ET) has announced the launch of daily 787 flight from Addis Ababa to Mumbai, India, effective 25 November 2012.

► ETHIOPIA: Etihad postpones Addis Ababa launch citing "Ethiopian CAA rejection".

Abu Dhabi based carrier Etihad Airways (EY) has announced the indefinite postponement of its inaugural Abu Dhabi - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia flight, set to begin this Friday, 2 November 2012.

► KENYA: Gulf Air pulls out of Nairobi from November.

Bahrain-based Gulf Air (GF), will, from 13 November 2012, suspend its 3x weekly operations to Nairobi, Kenya due to "commercial reasons". This will now leave Khartoum, Sudan and Addis Ababa as the carrier's only destinations in East Africa following the axing of its Entebbe, Uganda route after just 4 months in service.

► LIBERIA: Brussels Airlines increases Monrovia, drops Bamako from early 2013.

Belgian carrier Brussels Airlines (SN) is to terminate its Bamako, Mali flights effective 8 January 2013. Bamako is currently served once weekly in tandem with Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire.

►► LIBYA: Emirates cancels intended Tripoli service resumption.

[UPDATED 3 OCTOBER 2012] Emirates (EK) are to restart their service from Dubai to Tripoli, Libya that was suspended in February of last year due to the Libyan Uprising. The flights will recommence on 29 October 2012 with a 4x weekly Airbus A330-200 service that will switch to an Airbus A340-300 from 2 January 2013.

► NIGERIA: Arik Air suspends local ops indefinitely citing FAAN harassment.

Just when things couldn't seem to get any worse following the demise of Air Nigeria (VK) in early September, Nigeria's largest private carrier Arik Air (W3) today suspended domestic operations indefinitely citing what it called "the persistent hostility of the Ministry of Aviation and Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) management" who "were trying to destroy the airline for their own financial benefit."

► EGYPT: Israel's El Al looks to ditch Cairo flights amid a deteriorating Middle East.

Citing heavy security requirements and high operational costs, Israeli carrier El Al (LY) is seeking official approval to abandon its weekly Tel Aviv, Israel - Cairo, Egypt flight, a move likely to be blocked by Israel's government, given its now strained relations with the new Egyptian Presidency of Mohammed Morsi.

► KENYA: Brussels Airlines cancels planned Mombasa route launch; increases Kigali frequency.

Originally planned to go ahead from 1 October via Nairobi, Belgian carrier, Brussels Airlines (SN), has announced it will not be launching once weekly flights to the Kenyan port town of Mombasa "due to administrative reasons".

► ANGOLA: Aeroflot pulls out of Luanda from mid October.

Russia's Aeroflot (SU) is to pull out of the Angolan capital, Luanda effective 16 October 2012. The route - Moscow Sheremetyevo – Hurghada, Egypt – Luanda, Angola - is presently served twice weekly by an Airbus A320.

► SOUTH AFRICA: Qantas drops First Class from Johannesburg flights effective October.

Australian carrier, Qantas (QF), will from 1 October 2012 no longer offer First Class on its daily Boeing 747-400 flights between Sydney, Australia and Johannesburg, South Africa, with the last flight to have the service to operate on 30 September 2012.

► GERMANY: Eritrean Airlines drops Frankfurt 6 months after its inaugural flight.

Eritrean Airlines (B8), the Eritrean national carrier, has announced that effective 1 October 2012, it will drop Frankfurt, Germany from its route network. The route is currently serviced once weekly via Rome, Italy using an Airbus A319, down from its original 3x weekly frequency when the route was inaugurated in April.

► KENYA: Air Berlin to quit Mombasa from April 2013.

Germany's second largest airline, Air Berlin (AB) will, from 7 April, cease its twice weekly Airbus A330 flight from Munich, Germany to Mombasa, Kenya, adding yet another airline to the growing list of carriers pulling out of the Kenyan port city route, as the Eurozone crisis continues to hurt the pockets of Europeans, with African tourism experiencing a knock on effect.

Air Berlin: Munich, Germany - Mombasa, Kenya

• AB7362 MUC 2105 - 0615+1 MBA 332 | 37 (ENDS 7 APRIL 2012)

► SOUTH AFRICA: Emirates cancels intended A380 service return to Johannesburg.

As a result of the introduction of a new A380 service to Singapore on a regular basis, the planned A380 service resumption on Dubai – Johannesburg EK761/762 from 01 December 2012, is cancelled. Consequently, Dubai - Johannesburg's service will remain unchanged henceforth (see below).

Emirates Airbus A380 (Emirates)

Emirates: Dubai, UAE - Johannesburg, South Africa
- Effective 28 October 2012 and onwards until further notice

► SEYCHELLES: Blue Panorama to axe Mahé flights?

Italian private airline Blue Panorama Airlines (BV), which operates scheduled and charter flights to various global destinations, is to drop its Italy-Seychelles flights from "mid September" onwards, citing poor loads and passenger numbers, as the Italian economy continues to reel amid the ongoing Eurozone crisis.

Blue Panorama Boeing 767 in Mahè, Seychelles (Okke Behm)

The seasonal charter flights presently operate from Milan-Malpensa and Rome-Fiumicino.

"The tourist board and private sector have to talk to the travel agents and the tour operators to accept the situation and start using for instance Etihad and then connect from Abu Dhabi with Air Seychelles to Mahe. The alternative is to use Qatar Airways or Emirates to come here"

Source [WolfgangThome's Blog]

Italian Tourist Arrivals in Seychelles (NSB)

After Air Seychelles dropped its European routes in January of this year, Blue Panorama moved to fill the void left. However, the departure of Blue Panorama itself would mean there are no longer any direct flights between the Seychelles and Italy - historically a strong source of tourists for the islands.

No official confirmation from Blue Panorama itself has been heard as of publishing.

[UPDATE 31 AUGUST 2012] Amadeus lists the last flight out of Milan Malpensa as leaving on 3 September 2012, with the last flight leaving the Seychelles on 5 September 2012.

►► KENYA: Qatar Airways indefinitely postpones Mombasa route launch.

[Update 14 August] Inspite of the successful launch of its new Kilimanjaro, Tanzania route last week, Qatar Airways has indefinitely postponed its new Mombasa, Kenya route.

Originally meant to start from 15 August 2012, the flight would been flown with an Airbus A320 and would have gone via Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

No official announcement from Qatar Airways has been received as to when, if ever, the route will be flown though Airline Route reports that the flight on the GDS is no longer available.

►Update: See this post for new schedule.