► BOTSWANA: Kalahari Airways eyes flights to New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong via its Gaborone hub.

Denis Coghlan, the chief executive officer of the ambitious Botswana-based startup, Kalahari Airways, has outlined his longterm vision for the company in which he sees the establishment of Gaborone as a regional hub for flights to Hong Kong and the United States in addition to London.

► ETHIOPIA: Ethiopian outlines initial Winter 2013/14 timetable; to start Singapore from mid December.

Ethiopian Airlines (ET) has outlined its initial changes to its timetable in time for the Northern Winter 2013/14 season. According to AirlineRoute, among the most notable changes is the incorporation of the previously postponed Singapore flight.

► ZIMBABWE: Air Zimbabwe eyes Zambia, Malawi, Durban flights; still gung-ho on London Gatwick in November.

Air Zimbabwe (UM) is planning to roll out more regional and international destinations with effect from October/November onwards as the airline attempts to reclaim its lost southern African market share. In addition, it has now noted that a resumption of services to China is also on the cards.

► MALAWI: Zimbabwe, Malawi sign revised Bilateral Air Services Agreement.

Malawi and Zimbabwe have announced the signing of a revised Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) that will see greater flexibility and freedom for each country's designatedcarriers. The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the recent Southern African Development Community (SADC) Heads of State Summit recently held in Lilongwe, Malawi.

► NAMIBIA: Air Namibia ERJ135s to undergo maintenance in August; adjusts timetable accordingly.

Air Namibia has announced that owing to mandatory maintenance checks on its fleet of four Embraer ERJ135s, effective August 12-31 the following schedule changes have been made:

► ZAMBIA: Proflight mulls expansion into Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa, the DRC and Zimbabwe.

With the recent launch of its first regional flights to Lilongwe, Malawi, Proflight Zambia (P0) is mulling adding three further international destinations to its growing network by mid-2014, effectively making Lusaka a regional hub for air travel.

► KENYA: Saudia Cargo relaunches its Nairobi hub; adds 23 new African destinations via interline deals.

Saudi Airlines cargo division, Saudia Cargo (SV), has announced the re-launch of its Nairobi, Kenya hub along with the expansion of its network coverage into sub-Saharan Africa. Saudia Cargo currently serves six other freighter destinations in Africa, namely: Addis Ababa, Johannesburg, Kano, Khartoum, Lagos and N’Djamena. Saudia also offers a Lagos, Nigeria hub focussing on West Africa.

► ZIMBABWE: Lufthansa not coming back to Harare any time soon: Dünhaupt

German carrier, Lufthansa (LH), will not be returning to the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, any time soon,  group communications director for Africa, Mr Aage Dünhaupt, has said, but would instead continue to maintain a presence in the market via a codeshare with its Star Alliance partner South African Airways' (SA) multiple daily Johannesburg - Harare flights.

► ZIMBABWE: SA Express adds fourth weekly Durban - Harare flight from early August.

Effective August 4, SA Express (XZ) plans to increase its frequency on its Durban - Harare route to four weekly flights. The additional flight will operate on Sundays on-board CRJ200 aircraft. 

■ ZIMBABWE: CAAZ looking for $400mln to upgrade Harare International to cope with future traffic growth.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) will need USD400million overall to proceed with plans to expand Harare International Airport, which is anticipating a rise in traffic over the coming 10 years.

► MALAWI: Malawi Airlines to launch with a B737-800, Q400; outlines planned network.

Malawi Airlines, successor to the now defunct Air Malawi Ltd, has outlined its planned initial route network and its fleet, which has now been revealed to consist of a Boeing 737-800 and a Bombardier Q400. The aircraft are to be sourced from majority shareholder Ethiopian Airlines (ET).

► SOUTH AFRICA: DoT grants fastjet Foreign Operators Permit paving way for Dar - Joburg; no mention of Kigali or Lusaka (yet).

Following on from its previous announcement, fastjet (FN) says it has been issued a Foreign Operator Permit from the South African Department of Transport thereby paving the way for the launch of flights between Dar es Salaam and Johannesburg.

► ZIMBABWE: Air Zimbabwe mulling either the A330/777 for future long haul ops.

Air Zimbabwe (UM) is reportedly mulling leasing either the Airbus A330 or the Boeing 777 as a long haul replacement for its ageing pair of 767s, one of which, (MSN 24867 | Z-WPF), is reportedly undergoing a C-Check set to last 10-months. The other, (MSN 24713 | Z-WPE), is still serviceable though with the advent of the A320 on the airline's Harare - Johannesburg route, it has been parked and is now kept on standby for VVIP (i.e Presidential flights), charters and as a back up. Once refurbished, the aircraft should be deployed on London flights in November.

► RWANDA: Rwandair still eyes 17+ aircraft by 2015 with plans to further boost African coverage this year.

On the occasion of his airline taking delivery of its second B737-700 (MSN 30726 | 9XR-WK) on Friday 28 June, RwandAir's (WB) maverick CEO, John Mirenge, says he still plans to increase the fleet to at least seventeen aircraft by 2015 with plans to add "several African, Asian and Latin American countries" to its network.

► DUBAI: Emirates to deploy A340 to Lusaka/Harare, 777-300ER to Cape Town from September.

Emirates (EK) will from 1 September switch the operational aircraft currently deployed on its Dubai to Cape Town and Dubai to Harare via Lusaka flights. According to AirlineRoute, Harare/Lusaka will switch from the current 777-300ER to the Airbus A340-300 while Cape Town will see flights EK772/773 switch from the A340-300 to a 777-300ER. 

► UNITED KINGDOM: Air Zimbabwe pushes back London flights to November as 767s await refurbishment.

Air Zimbabwe (UM) says direct Harare - London Gatwick flights, originally meant to launch from July 1 but now removed from the GDS, will now resume in November once their two 767-200ERs have been refurbished.

■ ZIMBABWE: Air Zimbabwe readmitted to IATA after passing its IOSA.

Air Zimbabwe (UM) has reportedly been readmitted to the International Air Travel Association's International Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) registry following the audit's completion in February.

■ TANZANIA: Precision Air announces operational review; Harare flights to begin "shortly".

Tanzanian operator, Precision Air (PW), has announced it is in the process of reviewing its operational 5-year plan as part of its expansion and business review. According to CEO, Sauda Rajab, her airline intends to review its operational and fleet expansion measures while reassessing its current position on the Tanzanian and regional markets.

■ ZIMBABWE: Air Zimbabwe sends 600 employees on forced leave in bid to cut wage bill.

Air Zimbabwe (UM) has embarked on a staff rationalization project to trim down its bloated workforce from 1020 down to roughly 300 as part of streamlining measures aimed at turning the loss making airline into a viable, profitable entity.

► ZIMBABWE: First Embraer ERJ135 deployed into active service for Air Zimbabwe.

Fresh from the recent arrival and deployment into active service of its Airbus A320-200 (MCN 630 | Z-WPM) on its Harare - Johannesburg flights, Air Zimbabwe (UM) has now taken delivery of its first of two Embraer ERJ135 (Reg ?).