► GUINEA BISSAU: ASKY Airlines eyes a mid September launch date for Bissau flights.

As the saying goes, better 2 months late than never, ASKY Airlines (KP) has at long last unveiled a possible launch date for flights to the capital of Guinea-Bissau, Bissau. Operations should commence from September 15 with a 2x weekly flight extending the current Lome - Accra - Monrovia (James Spriggs Payne Airport) route flown by a Q400.

► GUINEA BISSAU: ASKY Airlines to start Bissau from July 15; plans South Africa, Angola and possibly Europe in future.

Ethiopian Airlines' West African subsidiary, ASKY Airlines (KP), is set to commence flights to Bissau, the capital of Guinea Bissau, from July 15 following the signing  of an agreement between the Bissau-Guinean civil aviation authority (Agência da Aviação Civil da Guiné-Bissau - AACGB) and ASKY officials.

► MOROCCO: Royal Air Maroc outlines its planned E190 Summer routes.

Royal Air Maroc (AT) will this Summer lease two Embraer E190 aircraft from Holland's Denim Air ACMI (J7) for use on routes to Germany, Guinea Bissau, France, Denmark and the Canary Islands.

► 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.

■ SENEGAL: ASECNA signs $35million contract with Thales, INEO Engineering for Radar, ATM Systems.

The Agency for Aerial Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (L'Agence pour la Sécurité de la Navigation aérienne en Afrique et à Madagascar) or ASECNA has signed a USD35million contract with a French consortium comprising Thales Air Systems SAS and INEO Engineering & Systems for the supply and installation of Monopulse Secondary Surveillance Radars (MSSR) with Mode S capability in addition to its Air Traffic Management (ATM) systems.

► 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.