► GABON: Lufthansa to drop Frankfurt - Pointe Noire via Libreville from late December.

German carrier, Lufthansa (LH), will from December 23, 2013 cancel  its existing 5x weekly Frankfurt to Pointe Noire (Republic of Congo) via Libreville (Gabon). The flights operate on board a PrivatAir (PT) Boeing 737-800 aircraft. 

► 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.

► ANGOLA: Lufthansa switches Luanda to A330 ops from late October.

German carrier, Lufthansa (LH), will, from 27OCT13, switch its operational aircraft in use between  Frankfurt and Luanda from Airbus A340-300 aircraft to A330-300. Capacity remains unchanged despite the aircraft adjustment.

►► ETHIOPIA: Lufthansa reduces Khartoum, Addis Ababa flights from 31 March.

[UPDATE 21 MARCH] German carrier Lufthansa (LH) is to reduce operations on its route between Frankfurt and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia via Khartoum, Sudan effective between 31 March and 1 June.

■ LIBYA: Lufthansa Systems, Libyan Airlines sign 5 year deal for supply of flight ops software.

Lufthansa Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group that  provides consulting and IT services for selected industries, today announced that Libyan Airlines (LN) has signed a five-year contract for its Lido/Flight flight planning solution as well as its Lido/RouteManual and Lido/eRouteManual navigation charts.

■ NIGERIA: Government fines British Airways and Virgin $235m over price fixing - again.

A Nigerian Senate Committee on Aviation on Tuesday ordered the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to work with the Nigerian Ministry of Justice and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in ensuring British Airways (BA) and Virgin Atlantic (VS) pay fines of USD135 million and USD100million respectively after both were found guilty on various counts of price fixing and coercion.

► TANZANIA: Air Tanzania resumes flights Friday as Government wants Lufthansa for joint venture.

As we reported last week, Tanzanian national carrier Air Tanzania (TC) will resume flights on Friday 12 October 2012 using their Bombardier Dash 8-300 (MSN 474 | 5H-MWF) along with two leased Boeing 737-500 of unknown origin. 

■ NIGERIA: Arik renews its Lufthansa Technik deal as Stella tries to lure Boeing and Bombardier into MRO sector.

Nigerian carrier, Arik Air (W3) and German maintenance service provider, Lufthansa Technik last week renewed a contract signed in 2006, that will see the German outfit along with Lufthansa Cityline - a sister company providing regional European flights under the Lufthansa brand -  providing technical support to Arik Air in the areas of line maintenance, base maintenance, materials and pool parts among others for the next five years.

► GERMANY: Lufthansa announces Africa schedule changes for European Winter.

German carrier Lufthansa (LH) has announced various operational and frequency changes to its Africa network for the duration of the European winter of 2012/2013.

Lufthansa's Africa Network

● Lufthansa Winter Africa Timetable ●

• Frankfurt – Johannesburg, South Africa: 08 January 2013 – 30 January 2013 - Service reduces from daily to 6x weekly.
• Frankfurt – Khartoum, Sudan – Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Service to operate 6x weekly instead of planned daily.
• Frankfurt – Lagos, Nigeria – Port Harcourt, Nigeria: 16 January 2013 – 06 February 2013 Service reduces from daily to 6x weekly.

Previously reported:

• Munich – Cape Town, South Africa: Effective 28 October 2012 - Service to switch from Frankfurt to Munich due to Frankfurt Noise Abatement rules.  

Read More Here [Airline Route]

► SOUTH AFRICA: Lufthansa drops Frankfurt for Munich to Cape Town following curfew ruling.

Following on from April's landmark ruling by a federal court in Leipzig, Germany to ban flights at Frankfurt between 11pm and 5am in response to complaints about the noise from residents, so German carrier Lufthansa (LH) has been forced to switch its Cape Town, South Africa service from Frankfurt to Munich effective 28 October 2012.

Lufthansa Boeing 747 at Cape Town (Jacobus Saayman)

Lufthansa: Munich, Germany - Cape Town, South Africa
Effective 28 October 2012

• LH574 MUC2200 – 1035+1CPT 343 x13
• LH575 CPT1900 – 0535+1MUC 343 x24

Read More Here [Airline Route]

As if the restrictions and its economic consequences at Frankfurt were not enough, Lufthansa has threatened to move some of its traffic to either Brussels, Zurich or Vienna after a referendum in Munich on the 20 June put plans to build a third runway at Munich Airport into jeopardy.

► MOROCCO: Lufthansa starts Berlin & Dusseldorf to Marrakech from November.

German carrier Lufthansa (LH) has announced Berlin Tegel to Marrakech, Morocco and Düsseldorf to Marrakech both of which will start from 3 November 2012.

The flights are both once weekly, and will be served with an Airbus A320.

A Lufthansa Airbus A320 (Lasse Fuss)

Dusseldorf – Marrakech effective 3 November 2012

• LH3476 DUS1105 – 1350RAK 320 6

• LH3477 RAK1450 – 1940DUS 320 6

Berlin Tegel – Marrakech effective 3 November 2012

• LH3478 TXL2105 – 0020+1RAK 320 6

• LH3479 RAK0205 – 0715TXL 320 6

Note that from 17 March 2013, Berlin Brandenburg Airport will come on line.

Read More Here [Airline Route]

● NIGERIA: More dodgy deals - Government wants USD$15m from Lufthansa.

In yet another aggressive shot fired at foreign carriers by the Nigerian Government, the Minister for Aviation, Stella Oduah, was today directed by the Nigerian Senate to immediately recover from German airline, Lufthansa, USD$14.8 million (about Naira37billion) owed to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), albeit, under a very murky pretext.