■ CAPE VERDE ISLANDS: ASA to spend €17million in 2013/14 to upgrade country's airports.

Cape Verde’s airport management company, Empresa Nacional de Aeroportos e Segurança Aérea (ASA), says it is planning to spend over EUR17million to spend (CVE1.8billion) on renovating and expanding the country's airport infrastructure in line with the it's vision of providing quality service to the country's growing tourism industry.

► PORTUGAL: TAP to début Boa Vista and Tangier in Winter 2013/14.

TAP Portugal (TP) will, during Winter 2013/14, add 2 new destinations to its network, offering 2x weekly Lisbon – Boa Vista (Cape Verde) and a 5x weekly Lisbon – Tangier (Morocco) route.

► GUINEA BISSAU: TACV suspends Praia - Bissau flights citing poor load factors.

TACV Cabo Verde Airlines (VR) says it has suspended flights to Bissau, the capital of Guinea-Bissau, owing to the route's poor returns. The move is effective 3 April.

► CAPE VERDE ISLANDS: TACV Cabo Verde Airlines unveils further Summer 2013 routes.

Leading on from our previous post, as per the 21MAR13 GDS timetable display, TACV Cabo Verde Airlines’ (VR) planned Summer 2013 operation changes are as follows.

► FRANCE: TACV Cabo Verde Airlines to start Marseille via Paris CDG from July.

Transportes Aéreos de Cabo Verde, TACV, the Cape Verdian flag carrier, is to start a once weekly Ilha do Sal - Paris CDG - Marseille - São Vicente (São Pedro Airport) flight using a Boeing 737-800 effective 2 July 2013.

► CAPE VERDE ISLANDS: BinterCanarias cargo wing looks to increase its African market presence.

BinterSwift, the cargo division of Canary Islands-based carrier, Binter Canarias (NT), has initiated a series of meetings with entrepreneurs from the Cape Verde Islands to better understand market demands as the airline seeks to improve its African market niche by providing more alternatives for the movement of cargo from and via the Canaries to Africa and vice versa.

■ CAPE VERDE ISLANDS: ASA reports total passenger traffic up 3.7% in 2012.

According to the Empresa Nacional de Aeroportos e Segurança Aérea (The Cape Verdian Airports Authority - ASA), the Cape Verde Islands have recorded another strong year of passenger arrivals with a growth of 3.7% on 2011's figures thanks largely in part to an increase in European travellers. However, the domestic front did not fare so well with a decline of 5.9%.

► PORTUGAL: TACV in talks to start Ilha do Sal - Beja.

TACV Transportes Aéreos de Cabo Verde (VR), the scheduled and charter, passenger and cargo airline based in Praia, Cape Verde is in negotiations to launch flights between Sal Island and Beja, a city in the Beja Municipality in the Alentejo Region, southern Portugal.

► FRANCE: Transavia to start new routes to Cape Verde Islands, Morocco from April.

Transavia (TO), the Dutch-based low-cost airline operating as an independent part of the Air France-KLM group, is to launch two new routes to North and West Africa from bases in France. First up is a once weekly service from Lille to Agadir, Morocco beginning 13 April. Then, from May 16 to October 24, 2013, a once weekly Paris Orly - Boa Vista, Cape Verde Islands will start.

■ ALGERIA: IATA boss Tyler urges a hub be built in North Africa as Cape Verde makes plans to establish its own Dubai-esque airport.

The International Air Transport Association's boss, Tony Tyler, present at the recently ended 45th General Meeting of the Arab Air Carriers Organization (AACO) in Algiers, Algeria has called for the establishment of a hub in North Africa comparable in size to that of Dubai or Doha.

► CAPE VERDE ISLANDS: Royal Air Maroc to launch Praia via Guinea Bissau from 2013.

Royal Air Maroc (AH) will, from 7 March 2013, start direct flights between Casablanca and Praia, Cape Verde Islands using either a Boeing 737-700 or -800 aircraft. The return leg will operate via Bissau's Oswaldo Vieira International Airport, Guinea Bissau.

► CAPE VERDE ISLANDS: TACV takes two B737-800s for fleet renewal.

Transportes Aéreos de Cabo Verde, TACV, the Cape Verdian flag carrier, has taken ownership of the first of its two ILFC Boeing 737-800s (N734MA & N742MA) ordered as part of its fleet renewal program.

► CAPE VERDE ISLANDS: Condor increases Banjul/Ilha do Sal/Boa Vista frequencies from Winter 2012/13.

German charter company, Condor (DE), has announced a new weekly service each to Ilha do Sal and Boa Vista (Cape Verde Island). Both flights will operate via Banjul, Gambia on the inbound sector with effect from from Winter 2012/13.