► 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.

► TANZANIA: Proflight Zambia to start Dar es Salaam from late October; plans to boost Lilongwe from November.

Proflight Zambia (P0) has announced plans to launch a 3x weekly Lusaka to Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania service with effect from October 23. According to the airline, as it stands, only a Day 1 & 5 operation have been set with confirmation from regulators on the timing.of a Wednesday slot still pending. Operations are on-board a Jetstream 41 turboprop. In addition, the carrier is also hoping to boost its Lilongwe flights to 4x weekly effective November 16, subject to regulatory approval. 

► 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.

► UNITED KINGDOM: British Airways to axe Lusaka, increase Accra flights from late October.

British Airways (BA) has outlined its initial Winter 2013/14 schedule with tentative plans to axe its thrice weekly Lusaka, Zambia flights, AirlineRoute has reported. On a more positive note, Accra, Ghana will see an additional 3 weekly services being added . All changes are effective October 27.

► 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.

► ZIMBABWE: PAKAfrica Aviation to use 1time buy out, stake in CATS to establish hub out of Harare.

South Africa-based PAKAfrica Aviation has reportedly acquired a 49% stake in Zimbabwe's Central Air Transport Services (ZO) and intends to use the acquisition, in conjunction with a proposed ZAR15million (USD1.5million) buy out of defunct South African LCC, 1time (T6), to establish a regional hub out of Harare. 

► 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.

► NAMIBIA: Kenya Airways, Air Namibia sign codeshare agreement.

Kenya Airways (KQ) and Air Namibia (SW) have announced the signing of a new code-share agreement paving the way for daily connections between the airlines’ Nairobi and Windhoek hubs through Johannesburg in South Africa and Lusaka in Zambia. This code-share agreement with Air Namibia brings the total number of code-share arrangements that Kenya Airways has signed with other international carriers to twenty.

► 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).

► 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. 

► TANZANIA: fastjet suspends South Africa launch as traffic rights to Lusaka, Kigali and Johannesburg are granted.

Struggling Tanzanian LCC, fastjet (FN), has been granted rights to service routes from Tanzania to South Africa, Zambia and Rwanda it has emerged. As a result of this development, the fastjet board has taken the decision to put the July 1 launch of its domestic South African operation temporarily on hold so that it can direct all its efforts and resources to starting its international services as soon as possible

► MALAWI: See Video of Proflight Zambia's inaugural Lusaka - Lilongwe flight.

Proflight Zambia (P0) débutted its regional operations with direct Lusaka to Lilongwe, Malawi flights on Tuesday June 4. According to the airline, the return flight is timed so that it can provide smooth connections to Emirates (EK) daily service from Harare to Dubai via Lusaka. Flights will initially operate with Proflight’s 29-seater Jetstream 41 aircraft.

► CHINA: Kenya Airways, China Southern expand codeshare to encompass more routes.

Kenya Airways (KQ) has expanded the scope of its code share agreement with fellow SkyTeam member, China Southern Airlines (CZ). Under the expanded agreement, Kenya Airways will code share on China Southern Airlines services from Bangkok to Wuhan, one of the busiest cities in Central China that is an important centre for trade, finance and transportation.

► ZAMBIA: See Pics of Proflight Zambia's inaugural 737 flight between Lusaka and Livingstone

Proflight Zambia (P0) successfully deployed its B737-200ADV (MCN 23472 | ZS-SMD), leased from South Africa's Star Air (BRH), into active service on May 15 with its first revenue flight being Lusaka to Livingstone.

►► ETHIOPIA: Ethiopian expecting "pleasant surprise" from Boeing in Addis next week; plans Dubai as first 787 destination from 25 April.

[UPDATE 17 MAY] Believing Boeing will have a "pleasant surprise" in store for the global aviation community next week, Ethiopian Airlines (ET) has tentatively scheduled its Boeing 787-8s to resume operations from April 25 with Dubai lined up as the Dreamliner's first potential destination.

► ZAMBIA: See Pics of Proflight Zambia's first B737-200Adv in company colours!

Domestic Zambian operator, Proflight Zambia (P0), are set to deploy their first B737-200ADV (MCN 23472 | ZS-SMD), leased from South Africa's Star Air (BRH), into active service shortly.

►► 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.

► MALAWI: Kenya Airways granted rights to Blantyre; 5th Freedom rights to Lusaka reinstated.

Kenya Airways (KQ) says it has been granted approval by the Malawian Government to begin flights into Blantyre's Chileka Airport effective June 3, 2013. In addition, its 5th Freedom Rights on the Lilongwe (Malawi) - Lusaka (Zambia) vv. sector of its Nairobi - Lilongwe - Lusaka - Nairobi vv. flights have also been reinstated. Neither of the developments at this time of writing, however, currently reflect on the GDS.