From info garnered from Botswanan charter company Bluesky Airways' website, it appears that Air Botswana could be in for a run for its money in the very near future. Having recently performed proving flights with its leased Boeing 737-200 to Maun for the Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana (CAAB), and with a new website on its way for a 9 July launch, the airline seems to be gearing up for scheduled operations, given the green light from the CAAB. At present, the airline only offers a charter service.
Monday, June 11, 2012
► BOTSWANA: Bluesky Airways gearing up for service?
From info garnered from Botswanan charter company Bluesky Airways' website, it appears that Air Botswana could be in for a run for its money in the very near future. Having recently performed proving flights with its leased Boeing 737-200 to Maun for the Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana (CAAB), and with a new website on its way for a 9 July launch, the airline seems to be gearing up for scheduled operations, given the green light from the CAAB. At present, the airline only offers a charter service.
► BENIN: Westair Benin to start Libreville, Abidjan, Niamey, Ouagadougou shortly; to acquire various aircraft.
Beninois start-up Westair Benin (WH) is to planning to use a Bombardier CRJ-200 on flights between the capital, Cotonou, and Libreville (Gabon), Niamey (Niger), Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire) and Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) with other destinations to be added in future.
Founded in 2002, the airline has maintained a relatively low profile thus far, though it is considering a Boeing 737-300 for use in future operations.
► FRANCE: Air France announces various Africa changes for Winter 2012.
French carrier Air France (AF) has announced various operational equipment changes to its Africa network, effective 28 October 2012 (i.e Winter 2012).Air France Equipment Changes (Effective 28 October 2012)Read More Here [Airline Route]
Other Equipment changes announced previously:
- Paris CDG – Bangui (Central African Republic)1 weekly service operates with A330-200, replaces A340-300
- Paris CDG – Niamey (Niger) – Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) 4 weekly service operates with A330-200, replaces mix of A330/340
Air France 777 over the Sahara (Ken Iwelumo) In Northern Winter 2012/13 season, Air France’s Airbus A340-300 and Boeing 747-400 operational frequencies continue to be reduced on following routes:
- Paris CDG – Antananarivo (Madagascar) 3-class Boeing 777-200ER operating, replaces A340-300 in W12.
- Paris CDG – Douala (Cameroon) – Malabo (Equatorial Guinea) Boeing 777-300ER replaces -200ER, daily operation
- Paris CDG – Mauritius 3-class “COI” Boeing 777-300ER operating, replaces 747-400 in NW11
Airbus A340-300
Boeing 747-400
- Paris CDG – Bamako (Mali)1 Daily
- Paris CDG – Cotonou (Benin) 5 weekly
- Paris CDG – Lome (Togo) 4 weekly
- Paris Orly – St. Denis de la Reunion 3 weekly
Friday, June 8, 2012
► SOMALIA: Ethiopian to start Berbera from July; delays Hargeisa service.
Originally built with Soviet aid, Berbera Airport got a new departures terminal in 2010 at a cost of USD$110'000.
 |
| Berbera Airport, (Somaliland) Somalia (Mitya Aleshkovsky) |
Meanwhile, in another Somali-related development, Ethiopian has had to postpone indefinitely, its Addis Ababa - Hargeisa, Somaliland originally planned to start on 10 June 2012, due to the ongoing renovation of the runway there, started on 27 May 2012. The wait, however, could be prolonged, as there are allegations of incompetence and poor workmanship on behalf of the Chinese contractors 'China Hono Group'.
The closure of Hargeisa's Airport has forced people to use Berbera Airport, 160kms away, which is the most likely mitigating factor in Ethiopian's decision to open the Addis Ababa - Berbera route.
"The resumption of flights to Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, scheduled for June 10, 2012 has been differed as renovation of runway at Hargeisa airport has not been completed. Once the renovation at Hargeisa airport is completed, Ethiopian plans to start flights immediately."
Read More Here [TigraiOnline]
► SOUTH AFRICA: SAA boosts Perth service from August.
South African Airways (SA) will, from 16 August 2012, increase its frequency between Johannesburg and Perth from 6x weekly, to daily using an Airbus A340-300.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
► TANZANIA: Precision Air to restart Arusha from July; postpones Lubumbashi & Lusaka.
With renovations to the runway at Arusha's International Airport nearing completion, Tanzanian private carrier Precision Air (PW) has announced the resumption of daily flights to Arusha with effect from July 10. For the duration of the renovation works, passengers have had to use Kilimanjaro International Airport - 50 km away.
► MADAGASCAR: Air Madagascar announces Asia operational changes for Summer.
Air Madagascar (MD) has announced that it will introduce its Airbus A340-300 on its Asian routes for the duration of 5 July to 27 October 2012. Presently, the airline operates a Boeing 767-300ER on its Antananarivo – Bangkok – Guangzhou and Antananarivo – Bangkok routes.
 |
| Air Madagascar's A340 "F-GLZL" (Didairbus) |
The Madagascan carrier signed a 6 year lease with Air France for two Airbus A340-300s in March of this year, with the option of buying the two aircraft when the lease expires. Previous attempts in May of last year to modernize the fleet with other Boeing 767s ran into a brick wall as the planes were added to the European Union's Banned Operator's List.
Antananarivo – Bangkok – Guangzhou
- MD010 TNR1625 – 0540+1BKK0720+1 – 1110+1CAN 343 15
- MD011 CAN1355 – 1555BKK1730 – 2205TNR 343 26
- MD012 TNR1850 – 0805+1BKK 343 3
- MD013 BKK2315 – 0350+1TNR 343 4
► 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 2012Note that from 17 March 2013, Berlin Brandenburg Airport will come on line.
- 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
Read More Here [Airline Route]
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
► BURKINA FASO: Air Burkina signs code-share with Air France.
Air Burkina (2J), the Burkinabe regional airline, is to extend its coverage to include France, with the recent signing of a code sharing agreement with Air France.
Effective 1 June, Air France has been allocating Air Burkina an unspecified number of
seats on Air France's daily flight between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Ouagadougou that is operated by either an Airbus A330 or A340.
"Dominique Patry, Vice President International Affairs and Alliances Air France, stated “this partnership agreement fits into a long-term cooperation perspective. It offers an additional illustration of Air France’s strategy in Africa, aiming to work with local partners. Our ultimate ambition is to offer our customers new regional destinations operated by Air Burkina”. "
Air Burkina's Route Map
Currently, Air Burkina flies to 11 cities around West Africa and will provide KLM/Air France with an important foothold into the fast growing West African aviation scene and is a development which KLM/Air France hopes to implement on other routes in West and Central Africa as well as in France and Europe.
► COTE D'IVOIRE: First pics of Air Cote d'Ivoire's A319 here!
The Ivory Coast's soon-to-be national carrier, Air Cote d'Ivoire, is set to receive its first aircraft - an Airbus A319 prior to commissioning services in July, as reported earlier by The African Aviation Tribune.
► NIGERIA: Pilot & Engineer Strike affecting Air Nigeria.
Air Nigeria (VK) has come clean and admitted that a 5 day old strike by members of the Nigerian Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) is starting to impact its domestic and regional flights, though its international operation to London Gatwick has remained unaffected.
The NAAPE strike is focussed around 4 core issues namely:
- Delayed payment of salaries to both local and foreign staff
- Pension deductions not remitted for over seven (7) months
- Co-operative deductions not yet remitted
- Tax refund and tax clearance issues
 |
| Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos |
Air Nigeria management however, has refused to budge from its own position and in a statement has labelled the strike as "blackmail" and "uncalled for" and claimed that the union did not seek recourse in order to resolve their grievances. It also alleged that the NAAPE was in cahoots with competitors jealous of Air Nigeria's progress.
"It is very unreasonable and cheap blackmail for NAAPE to embark on strike action based on non payment of May salaries at the mid night of May 31st when infact some of the staff had collected their salaries with the rest of the staff still being processed.
It is therefore illegal and criminal for NAAPE to allow itself to be used by Competitors, who are envious of the giant steps already taken by Air Nigeria and Management is already working on a policy that will put a permanent stop to this cheap blackmail’
Passengers at Lagos' Murtala Muhammad International Airport have been subject to delays and flight cancellations which has led to angry scenes at check-in counters and ticket booths.
The NAAPE has been a perpetual thorn in the side of Air Nigeria's management, as in November of last year, they again moved to strike following the sacking of Air Nigeria's Head of Maintenance Department James Erigba, because of a disagreement over an aircraft's airworthiness.
► KENYA: Kenya Airways drops Rome route effective immediately.
In a some what sudden development, Kenya Airways (KQ) has announced the immediate cancellation (i.e as of 4 June 2012) of its 3x weekly service from Nairobi to Rome, Italy.
 |
| A Kenya Airways B737-700 in Rome in April (Aldo Bidini) |
In March, the airline temporarily suspended the service citing low passenger loads, but then resumed it using a Boeing 737-700, a downgrade capacity-wise from its original Boeing 767-300.
► TANZANIA: Air Tanzania's boss fired; 4 others suspended.
After much pomp and fervour over the airline's relaunch last month, the Tanzanian Government has fired Air Tanzania's (TC) acting Managing Director,
Paul Chizi, and suspended four senior officials due to "irregularities in their appointments apropos the Tanzanian Public Service Act of 2002, amongst other accusations of breach of public service laws and regulations."
► KENYA: Egyptair A320 skids on landing at Nairobi; massive delays follow.
 |
| Egyptair A320 SU-GBG in the mud at Nairobi. (Buggs79) |
"All passengers and crew were safely evacuated to the terminal building even as all emergencies operations at the Airport including fire and rescue were activated immediately."
The resulting closure of Nairobi's lone runway has caused numerous delays and diversions for various airlines, most notably Kenya Airways, who have had to delay many departures as well as divert many arriving aircraft to either Mombasa, Entebbe or Dar es Salaam
► NIGERIA: Civil Aviation Boss suspended; Dana Air grounded.
The Nigerian Government has moved to suspend the Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Dr. Harold Demuren, for the duration of investigations into both the Dana Air 9J-997 tragedy in Lagos on Sunday, and the Nigerian-registered Allied Air Cargo Boeing 727 crash landing in Accra, Ghana the day before.
Together, the two crashes have claimed over 170 lives, with numbers to rise, as more bodies are discovered at the Lagos crash site.
The Dana Air MD 83's tail being removed. (Reuters) "“The latest Dana aircraft crash is even more tragic than the previous ones with a total casualty figure of about 190 people, including 153 passengers, six crew members and about 37 people on the ground.
“This crash is a wake-up call for all relevant authorities to rise to the challenge of ensuring that no effort is spared in making the nation’s aviation industry conform with international safety standards,” he said."
The Government has also revoked the operating licence of Dana Air until further notice.
""As soon as we have concluded the recertification of the airline, if they are capable, then their license will be reinstated," said Sam Adurogboye, a spokesman for the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority."
The revocation follows in the wake of a promised shake up of Nigeria's poor civil aviation safety record, which amongst other things has seen 5 fatal crashes in the last 10 years, as well as the arrest/suspension of high ranking government officials on allegations of corruption and bribery most recently the attempted arrest of the Managing Director of the Lagos-based Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), George Uriesi, on suspected allegations of graft by the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
► EGYPT: Egyptair Express mulls fleet renewal before expanding into Africa.
Following on from the events of last year's Arab Spring and consequently a very difficult financially 2011 whereby the airline's profits took a 75% plunge, Egyptair (MS) has decided to reorganize its fleet and route operations by offloading several of its "thinner" African routes to its subsidiary Egyptair Express (MSE).
 |
| Egyptair Express Embraer E-170LR |
Possible routes to be moved to Egyptair Express are Cairo to: Khartoum, Sudan, Asmara, Eritrea and Juba, South Sudan all which are presently served by the Boeing 737-500, whose capacity appears to have come in under Egyptair's proposed policy of maintaining only 140+ seater aircraft in its main fleet. In the interests of fleet renewal and of finding suitable aircraft for these new routes, Egyptair is considering the Embraer E-190 or Bombardier CSeries.
Read More Here [ATW]"It has also used Embraer aircraft to increase frequencies. Following the sharp drop in passenger numbers after the Egyptian revolution in early 2011, it moved some strategic short-haul routes to the E-170LR fleet to maintain frequencies and transferred non-strategic short-haul routes to the Brazilian aircraft to preserve market presence."
Presently, EgyptAir Express operates 12 Embraer E-170LRs to destinations in Egypt, Greece, Hungary, Lebanon, Malta and Saudi Arabia.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
► SOUTH AFRICA: SAA axes Cape Town - Heathrow; boosts Accra & Mumbai.
South African Airways (SA) will drop its iconic daily Cape Town - London Heathrow service with effect from 15 August 2012. The airline cited low yields on the route as its main cause for dropping the route. In the last 3 years, the annual number of tourists using London as a final destination or as a transitory airport has declined.
► LIBYA: Afriqiyah launches Amman flights; most 8U 771 families compensated.
Libyan airline, Afriqiyah (8U), has expanded its renewed network to now include flights between both Tripoli and Benghazi, Libya and Amman, Jordan using an Airbus A320.
Monday, June 4, 2012
► MOZAMBIQUE: LAM likely to restart Maputo - Harare from October 2012.
Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique, better known as LAM Mozambique Airlines
(TM), is to tentatively re-establish twice weekly flights on Wednesday and Sunday to Harare from Maputo via
Beira using its DHC-8-400, with effect from 27 October 2012, though the reports are unconfirmed as yet. |
| LAM Mozambique Q400 (Peter Tonna) |
The airline last served Harare in the early 2000s, but then dropped the service due to the downturn in the Zimbabwean economy.
LAM Mozambique Airlines: Maputo, Mozambique - Beira, Mozambique - Harare, Zimbabwe
-Effective 27 October 2012
- TM342 MPM 0935 - 1110 BEW 1140 - 1230 HRE DH4 | 37
- TM343 HRE 1330 - 1420 BEW 1450 - 1625 MPM DH4 | 37
► CONGO (BRAZZAVILLE): EC Air to start Brazzaville - Paris.
Republic of Congo airline Equatorial Congo Airlines (LC), or more commonly EC Air, are to start 3x weekly flights between Brazzaville and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, using its Boeing 757-200.
► CAPE VERDE ISLANDS: TACV takes two B737-800s for fleet renewal.
Transportes Aéreos de Cabo Verde, TACV, the Cape Verdian flag carrier, has taken ownership of the first of its two ILFC Boeing 737-800s (N734MA & N742MA) ordered as part of its fleet renewal program.
► ZIMBABWE: Sol Air reveals planned routes as Government discord continues.
Following on from our initial report, Zimbabwean private start up Sol Air (ZS)
has now revealed its plans for upcoming routes it intends to serve
using a fleet of Bombardier CRJ-900s.
Amongst the cities to be served from its base at Harare
International Airport are: Bulawayo, Dar es Salaam, Johannesburg, Tete
(Mozambique), Lusaka and Victoria Falls. It also plans to serve
Johannesburg - Victoria Falls and Johannesburg - Bulawayo, two routes
that are at present serviced exclusively by South African carriers.
 |
| A familiar sight at Harare - empty slots. (William Whaley) |
No
further news on how a resurrected Air Zimbabwe has been performing on
domestic routes has been made available.
Meanwhile, at a recent conference
of the African
Travel Association (ATA) held in Victoria Falls, Shingi Munyeza, chief
executive officer of hotel and leisure group,
African Sun Limited (ASL) told international delegates that there was
nothing wrong with African governments regulating domestic air services
in order to protect troubled national airlines.
"You need to let in (foreign) airlines but ensure you don't destroy the local airline," Munyeza told the ATA congress. "
African governments have been burnt before where they have opened the skies," said Munyeza.
Once
again, this adds to the notion of total discord between official Zimbabwean
Government policy and private industry with regards to the serious development of local
aviation, as just recently, Minister of Tourism and Hospitality
Walter Mzembi stated:
"We are over-protecting Air Zimbabwe. We all know that government is a signatory to a declaration that promotes an open sky policy. What I wonder is why we have not been able to motivate any new airlines into our airspace?"
Politicking aside, the answer, however, is simple.
As
long as Zimbabwe's government is willing to live with the prospect of
subsidizing an inefficient millstone of the Air Zimbabwe sort whilst strangling any potential private carriers under the guise of the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ), then it
will only have itself to blame when it finds its tourism and aviation infrastructure
both undeveloped and underexploited, because after all, tourism thrives on reputation, and what good to a country is an airline reputed only for late arrivals and shoddy service?
► ETHIOPIA: Airbus pitches A330 to Ethiopian.
In 1998, Ethiopian placed an order for two A340s to use on its Addis Ababa - Washington DC route, both of which were never delivered, instead being replaced by the airline's present Boeing 767-300s.
"Crawford Hamilton, director of the A330 programme, told The Reporter that executives of Ethiopian were evaluating the A330 aircraft.
The Ethiopian A340 that never was. (Eric Pajaud)
Hamilton said last November an Airbus technical team made a technical presentation to senior officials of Ethiopian in Addis Ababa. “The A330 is a very good long-range aircraft,” says Hamilton. “Ethiopian Airlines is one of the leading airlines in Africa. It is a reliable customer. It is self-sufficient. So we are trying to sell a very good aircraft to a very good airline.”"
Though a very loyal Boeing operator (of its 48 aircraft at present, 40 of them are Boeing), Ethiopian Airlines did place an order worth some USD$3billion for 12 Airbus A350-900 XWBs at the 2009 Dubai Airshow, for use on its "Far East and the American operations" and with further strong growth forecast in the next 20 years, the airline could be doing a lot more business with Airbus in the near future.
► EGYPT: Egyptair adds 777 to summer service to Guangzhou.
 |
| Egyptair Boeing 777 at Guangzhou, China (MSAL) |
Egyptair: Cairo, Egypt - Guangzhou, China (1 June 2012 - 27 October 2012)
MS958 CAI2325 – 1515+1CAN EQV x27
MS959 CAN0005 – 0500CAI EQV x24
- 01JUN12 – 15JUL12 Boeing 777-200ER
- 16JUL12 – 31AUG12 Airbus A340-200
- 01SEP12 – 14SEP12 Boeing 777-200ER
- 15SEP12 – 27OCT12 Boeing 777-300ER
Sunday, June 3, 2012
► NIGERIA: Dana Air MD-83 slams into building in Lagos; 153 feared dead.
A Nigerian Dana Air (9J) McDonnell Douglas MD-83 (5N-RAM) has crashed into a building in Iju neighbourhood (more specifically: near Ayinla Bus Stop, north of the airport, Iju Ishaga road, Agege), Lagos, Nigeria whilst on approach into Murtala Muhammad International Airport, en route from Abuja.  |
| Dana Air MD-83 "5N-RAM" |
There were 153 (147 passengers and 6 crew) people on-board - all of whom are feared dead - whilst there are more casualties on the ground whose numbers are yet to be established.
Conflicting media reports state that the aircraft, whilst on approach into Lagos, initially hit power-lines, before careering through a furniture shop and then into residential buildings, before bursting into flames, though this version of events still has to be verified.
On May 10, another Dana Air MD-83 (5N-SRI) was on approach into Lagos when an on-board hydraulic failure was reported. The aircraft continued for a safe landing thereafter.
 |
| The MD-83 down in Lagos (NigerianEye) |
For More images click here.
Today's disaster comes after a Nigerian registered Allied Air Cargo Boeing 727-200 freighter (5N-BJN) yesterday (Saturday 2 June 2012) overran the runway at Accra's Kotoka International Airport and killed 12 people on the ground: 11 occupants of a Benz 207 Bus and a soldier riding a bike along the road.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
► UNITED STATES: Delta drops Atlanta to Accra & Monrovia.
American carrier Delta (DL) is to axe its Boeing 767-300ER service from Atlanta to Accra, Ghana and Monrovia, Liberia with effect from 11 August 2012 as a result of high jet fuel prices and inconsistent passenger traffic.
However, the airline has stated that it will increase its better performing New York - Accra route from 4x weekly, to 5x weekly.
Delta Boeing 767 at Accra (PRM) "Although the Atlanta flight will be phased out, Delta will increase its weekly frequency from New York to Accra from four flights to five, the airline said in a statement. The removal of three Atlanta flights and three to Monrovia cuts the number of Delta weekly flights serving the Ghanaian capital in half. Delta still has the New York routes, which also connect in two days per week to Abuja, Nigeria."
Read More Here [Global Atlanta]
The airline first serviced the route in 2010, and comes in the wake of fellow American carrier United's decision to cancel its Washington DC - Accra route from July 2012, citing poor yields aswell.
► SOUTH AFRICA: 1Time drops Lanseria Airport hub.
South African LCC 1Time (T6) has announced that it is to cease its Lanseria Airport operations with effect from 2 June 2012, in order to better focus and consolidate its domestic and regional services out of Oliver Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg's largest airport.
1Time McDonnell Douglas MD-83 at Johannesburg. 1time Airline CEO, Blacky Komani says that the retraction of the Lanseria routes was motivated by a decision to optimise its overall operations.“We have taken the decision to consolidate all our local and regional flights from OR Tambo International Airport and concentrate on our African projects that are currently underway. Pending seasonal demand, and commercial viability of the airport, we may look at reviewing our Lanseria services in the future.”
The axing of Lanseria comes at a difficult financial time for 1Time, who recently went through a particularly rough patch whereby it posted losses amounting to USD$17million for 2011, followed by the resignation of its then CEO Rodney James.
► DJIBOUTI: Air France alters Paris - Djibouti service.
Air France (AF) is to alter its present 3x weekly service from Paris to Djibouti via Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to operate via Riyadh, Saudi Arabia instead, with effect from 2 September 2012. An Airbus A330-200 is used on the route. |
| An Air France A330 in Djibouti (Pepa T.) |
Paris CDG – Riyadh – Djibouti
- AF524 CDG1350 – 2050RUH2205 – 0030+1JIB 332 146
Riyadh service will increase from 3 to 5 weekly as a result (existing non stop terminator service will operate as 2x weekly instead of 3x). Djibouti frequencies remain unchanged.
- AF525 JIB0220 – 0440RUH0600 – 1130CDG 332 257
Paris CDG – Jeddah – Djibouti 3 weekly service operates until 2 September 2012.
- AF3870 CDG1110 – 1805JED1920 – 2125JIB 332 136
- AF3871 JIB2345 – 0150+1JED0305+1 – 0805+1CDG 332 136
Read More Here [Airline Route]
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
► ALGERIA: Air Algérie to lease an A340 for summer.
Algerian flag carrier Air Algérie (AH), has announced that it will lease an Airbus A340-300 (9M-XAB; c/n 273) from Asian LCC AirAsiaX, to supplement its services for the duration of summer.
► SOUTH AFRICA: Emirates delays A380 service to Joburg; reduces Cape Town.
Dubai – Johannesburg EK761/762 Planned A380 service resumption now postponed till 01OCT12, instead of 11JUN12"
Read More Here [Airline Route]
 | |
| Emirates 777 at Cape Town (© Jacobus Saayman) |
Emirates: Dubai - Cape Town
- Valid 1 Sept - 30 Nov 2012
- EK770 DXB0850 – 1625CPT 77W D
- EK771 CPT1810 – 0525+1DXB 77W D
Read More Here [Airline Route]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)