► CONGO (KINSHASA): International Trans Air Business deploys its B737-200M into service to Kinshasa.

Lubumbashi-based carrier, International Trans Air Business (ITAB), deployed its B737-200(M) (MSN 21959 | ZS-PVU) into service on September 10 with its maiden flight being to the Congolese capital, Kinshasa.

■ CONGO (KINSHASA): Government once more looking for a strategic partner in its planned national carrier.

Its back to the drawing board for Kinshasa so far as finding a strategic partner for its renewed national carrier is concerned. Accordingly, the country's Minister of Transport, Mr Justin Kalumba, Congo has reissued a tender for interested parties & carriers which closes on August 31.

► 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.

► CONGO (KINSHASA): Air Kasaï now leasing a B737-200Adv from Gryphon Airlines.

Kinshasa-based Air Kasaï has added a B737-200Adv (MSN 22123 | ZS-EVE) to its fleet on lease from South Africa's Gryphon Airlines. Air Kasai also operates the Congo's sole ATR72-200 and various smaller Antonovs.

► 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.

► CONGO (KINSHASA): Chapman Freeborn begins weekly Joburg - Lubumbashi - Kinshasa cargo ops.

Ad-hoc cargo charter specialists, Chapman Freeborn Africa, has launched a new scheduled service from Johannesburg to Lubumbashi and Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

► CONGO (KINSHASA): SA Express resumes Lubumbashi ops as RVA beckons carriers to return.

SA Express (XZ) has announced a tentative resumption of its flights to Lubumbashi on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays following an announcement by the Congolese airport's authority, Regie des Voies Aériennes (RVA), that Luano International Airport's runway 07/25 would not be closed entirely during rehabilitation works.

► CONGO (KINSHASA): Korongo's only aircraft suffers wing damage in Lubumbashi; Safair 737 being leased in the meantime.

Korongo Airlines (ZC) sole remaining aircraft, a Boeing 737-300 (MSN 25070 | OO-LTM), on the evening of Friday May 24, suffered damage to its left wing tip while taxiing to its parking position at Lubumbashi's Luano International Airport, the carrier has announced.

►► ZAMBIA: Proflight Zambia to start Lubumbashi, Lilongwe ops from mid May.

[UPDATE 15 MAY] Proflight Zambia (P0) is set to embark on its first regional operations with the launch of 3x weekly Ndola - Lubumbashi (DRC) and 3x weekly Lusaka - Lilongwe (Malawi) flights, effective 16MAY13.

►► KENYA: A look at Kenya Airways' updated Summer 2013 Schedule, codeshare plans with Air Burkina.

[UPDATE 2 MAY 2013] AirlineRoute writes that as per the 27MAR13 GDS timetable and inventory display, the latest changes to Kenya Airways’ (KQ) planned Summer 2013 operation, effective 31MAR13, is as follows. Further changes remain possible.

■ CONGO (KINSHASA): Lubumbashi Airport to close 3 days a week from May to October as RVA finally upgrades crumbling infrastructure.

Lubumbashi International Airport (also known as Luano International Airport) is to be closed for three days a week between May and October 2013 due to maintenance and upgrading works being done to the airport terminal and runway 07/25.

■ CONGO (KINSHASA): New national carrier to début in June as Government moves to recertify all Congolese carriers under IATA supervision.

Justin Kalunga, the Democratic Republic of Congo's Minster of Transport, says a new national airline has already been white-papered and approved by his government with a new strategic partner set to be chosen in due course. The new airline, due to take delivery of its first aircraft in June, will replace the current quasi-defunct national carrier, LAC Lignes Aériennes Congolaises (4V). The move is one of the initiatives the Congolese are undertaking to ameliorate the country's poor aviation safety record and international image.

► ZAMBIA: Proflight set to take delivery of a 737 in May for use on Lusaka - Livingstone flights during UNWTO.

Domestic operator Proflight Zambia (P0), is looking to take delivery of a Boeing 737-200ADV in late April for use on its domestic routes during the upcoming XXth United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly to be jointly held in Livingstone & Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe in August this year.

► SOUTH AFRICA: Comair Ltd, SAA, SA Airlink set sights on regional expansion.

South African Airways (SA), its subsidiary SA Airlink (4Z) and competitor Comair Ltd, the British Airways franchise holder in South Africa in addition to owning LCC Kulula, have applied for new frequencies to the Democratic Republic of the Congo amongst other destinations as South African carriers seek to broaden their market bases.

► ZIMBABWE: Air Zimbabwe to get two ERJ135s; to start Munich, London, Nairobi, Mauritius flights in March?

A new dossier on Air Zimbabwe (UM) entitled "Aircraft rotation for summer 2013" purportedly showing the carrier's service resumption plans for Summer 2013, has been published with Embraer Regional Jets set to join the fleet. Additionally, flights to the UK, Germany, Ghana, Mauritius, Kenya and Nigeria are planned.

► TANZANIA: A look at Precision Air's network expansion plans for 2016.

Rwandan aviation blog, Rwandan-Flyer, reports that Tanzanian private carrier and interim flag carrier, Precision Air (PW), is planning a big regional expansion programme in the coming months with new services to Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Angola and Mozambique to be added by 2016.

► MOZAMBIQUE: See Pics of VistaJet's ongoing Global 6000 Business Jet Africa Tour, set to stop in Maputo next.

Vistajet, the Swiss company luxury jet company specializing in short term leasing, has taken its Bombardier Global 6000 jet on a global roadshow with Africa being the first leg. Thus far, Kumasi, Accra, Abuja, Lagos, Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, Luanda, Johannesburg, Cape Town have been visited with Maputo, Kampala, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam still left.

● CONGO (KINSHASA): ACAJ slams poor security at Lubumbashi Airport following attempted attack on 21 December.

The Congolese Association for Access to Justice (l'Association Congolaise pour l'Accès à la Justice (ACAJ)) has slammed the regional government of Katanga Province over its repeated failure to provide adequate security at Lubumbashi Luano International Airport following numerous attacks in the last two years.

► ZAMBIA: Ethiopian Airlines to start Ndola ops from March 2013 as Kenya Airways adds direct Saturday flight.

Zambia's third largest city, Ndola, is to see an increase in its regional connectivity with Ethiopian Airlines (ET) set to launch 3x weekly Boeing 737-700 flights to the Copperbelt from 31 March 2013, whilst competitor, Kenya Airways (KQ), is to introduce a once weekly Embrarer E190 Nairobi – Ndola terminator service, also effective 31 March 2013.

► CONGO (KINSHASA): Korongo adds Mbuji-Mayi from late October.

As previously reported by The African Aviation Tribune, Congolese carrier Korongo Airlines (ZC), have announced plans for twice weekly flights between Lubumbashi and Mbuji-Mayi (Eastern Kasai) and Kinshasa and Mbuji-Mayi respectively, effective 31 October 2012.