► ZIMBABWE: Tanzania's Precision Air eyes Harare via Blantyre before year end.

Tanzania's  Precision Air (PW), in addition to announcing its partnership with Vodacom Tanzania in launching M-Pesa - an innovative method of paying for one's air tickets using cellphone airtime - and having received a shot in the arm last week when 41% shareholder Kenya Airways (KQ) announced it would inject "between USD4 - 6million" into the carrier from its own USD80million loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to help aid the Tanzanian regional carrier's fleet expansion plans, today announced plans to resurrect its service to Harare, Zimbabwe albeit via Blantyre, Malawi, and not Lilongwe, Malawi, as originally intended.

► KENYA: See flySAX 's Fokker F28 in its new colours!

After its recent acquisition by the Fly540 group of FastJet fame, flySAX, formerly East African Safari Air Express (B5), has just received its Fokker F28 (MSN: 11229 | 5Y-EEE) painted in the company's new colours, and ready for service.

 

East African Safari Air was an airline based in Kenya whose international operations were suspended in September 2004, though the airline still maintained scheduled regional and domestic services through its subsidiary East African Safari Air Express. In November 2010, East African Safari Air Express too, ceased operations shortly before being bought out completely by fly540 Group in December 2010.

■ ANGOLA: See Pics of Luanda Airport's New Domestic Terminal.

After the recent opening of the newly renovated Catumbela International Airport in the coastal city of Catumbela in Benguela Province, Angola’s airport and air traffic authority Empresa Nacional de Aeroportos e Navegação Aérea (ENANA), on Wednesday 29 August, marked yet another milestone in its infrastructural renovation programme with the opening by Angolan Minister of Transport, Augusto da SilvaTomás, of the new Domestic Terminal at Luanda's 4 de Fevereiro Airport, following extensive refurbishment and expansion by Portuguese contractors, Somague Engenharia.

► MAURITIUS: Emirates to go 14x weekly as Air Mauritius, Air Austral & Air Madagascar band together to survive.

Bucking the ongoing trend amongst European carriers of reducing their frequencies to the Indian Ocean island, Dubai based mega-carrier, Emirates (EK), has announced an increase in its weekly frequencies from 11x weekly to 12x weekly from 28 October 2012, with the route going 14x weekly from 28 November 2012.

Emirates: Dubai, UAE - Port Louis, Mauritius

- EK3705/3706 operate Day 23456 from 28 October 2012 until 27 November 2012

• EK701 DXB 0310 – 0940 MRU 773 | 2457
• EK3703 DXB 0310 – 0940 MRU 773 | 136
• EK3705 DXB 1000 – 1645 MRU 773 | 1234567

• EK3706 MRU 1820 – 0110+1 DXB 773 | 1234567
• EK702 MRU 2320 – 0555+1 DXB 773 | 2457
• EK3704 MRU 2320 – 0555+1 DXB 773 | 136

Source [Airline Route]

► KENYA: Air Berlin to quit Mombasa from April 2013.

Germany's second largest airline, Air Berlin (AB) will, from 7 April, cease its twice weekly Airbus A330 flight from Munich, Germany to Mombasa, Kenya, adding yet another airline to the growing list of carriers pulling out of the Kenyan port city route, as the Eurozone crisis continues to hurt the pockets of Europeans, with African tourism experiencing a knock on effect.

Air Berlin: Munich, Germany - Mombasa, Kenya

• AB7362 MUC 2105 - 0615+1 MBA 332 | 37 (ENDS 7 APRIL 2012)

► CONGO (BRAZZAVILLE): EC Air Congo to start Douala, Cotonou, Ollombo following last week's Paris service launch.

As previously reported by The African Aviation Tribune, Congolese private carrier Equatorial Congo Airlines, better known as EC Air Congo (LC), last week Friday 24 August, inaugurated its first international route: a 3x weekly Brazzaville, Congo - Paris (Charles de Gaulle) service using a Boeing 757-200 leased from Switzerland's PrivatAir.

► SIERRA LEONE: Fly540 Ghana to launch Freetown, Abidjan flights from early September; Monrovia, Lagos to follow.

According to Amadeus, Fly540 Ghana (5G) is to venture further into the regional field when it launches flights from its Accra, Ghana hub to Sierra Leone, Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia and Nigeria all in quick succession

Mention is also made of a potential flight to Lomé, Togo in the future.

First to be launched will be Accra, Ghana - Freetown, Sierra Leone and Accra, Ghana - Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire on 3 September 2012,  with Accra, Ghana - Monrovia, Liberia on 18 September 2012 and finally

► GHANA: Egyptair to acquire majority stake in CTK CiTylinK?

Unconfirmed reports out of Ghana claim that Egyptian carrier, Egyptair (MS), having allegedly considered "other options" on the Ghanaian scene, are "in talks" to acquire "about a 50% stake" in the struggling Ghanaian domestic operator CTK CiTylinK Airlines (CTQ).

Of late, CiTylinK Airlines has been going through a very rough patch, having first suspended operations in early August before losing its leased Fokker 100 over unpaid leasing charges shortly after.

"Egypt Air will control 50 percent stake in the airline while majority shareholder, Tei Azu and other local investors will own the rest of the shares. Citi Business News also

► SOUTH AFRICA: Emirates cancels intended A380 service return to Johannesburg.

As a result of the introduction of a new A380 service to Singapore on a regular basis, the planned A380 service resumption on Dubai – Johannesburg EK761/762 from 01 December 2012, is cancelled. Consequently, Dubai - Johannesburg's service will remain unchanged henceforth (see below).

Emirates Airbus A380 (Emirates)

Emirates: Dubai, UAE - Johannesburg, South Africa
- Effective 28 October 2012 and onwards until further notice

► MAURITIUS: Air Mauritius confirms Viljoen as CEO; appoints new Chairman.

Following a meeting of the board of directors of Air Mauritius (MK), Appalsamy Thomas, the current Chairman of Mauritius Telecom, and Andre Viljoen were elected Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Air Mauritius respectively.

Andre Viljoen (FM)

Viljoen was previously CEO of South African Airways from 2001 until 2004, before taking up the positionof Officer-in-Charge, Chief Finance Officer and Chief Information Officer at Air Mauritius. He joined the

► TANZANIA: LAM Mozambique to increase Maputo - Dar Es Salaam flights from November.

Mozambican national carrier Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique, better known as LAM Mozambique Airlines (TM), has, via the Agência de Informação de Moçambique (the official Mozambique News Agency), announced it is to increase the frequency of its Embraer 190 operated flights between Maputo, Mozambique and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from 2x weekly, to 3x weekly.

At present the reservation system does not reflect the update, but when it does, we will update this post

► GHANA: (Pics) Africa World Airlines first Embraer ERJ145 finally arrives in Accra.

After a long delivery flight that was routed Tianjin - Changsha - Kunming - Kolkata - Ahmedabad - Abu Dhabi - Djibouti - Entebbe before finally arriving at Accra's Kotoka International Airport at 11.22am today, Ghana's Africa World Airlines (AW) new Embraer ERJ145 (c/n 14500996 | 9G-AET) was greeted with a traditional water cannon salute by the airport's fire department.

► CONGO (KINSHASA): Korongo to expand network to Mbuji-Mayi, Kolwezi, Goma, Kisangani with more regional routes to follow.

With a second Bae146-200 (aka AvroRJ 85) (MSN E2196 | OO-DJJ) having joined its fleet on Tuesday 28 August, George Forrest, the Belgian businessman and chairman of Korongo Airlines (ZC), the Lubumbashi based joint venture between Brussels Airlines (40.40%), Forrest Group (39.60%) and local DRC investors (20%), has announced that its next intended destinations within Congo are to be: Mbuji-Mayi (Eastern Kasai), Kolwezi (Katanga), followed by Goma (North Kivu) and Kisangani (Eastern Province).

■ ST HELENA: Tender for flights to Cape Town to be issued "soon".

Press reports out of Cape Town, South Africa state that tenders will soon be issued for flights to the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, part of a group of islands in the Mid/South Atlantic Ocean that includes Ascension Island and the islands of Tristan da Cunha, with the contract being awarded "next year."

Currently the island's only link to mainland anywhere is via a Royal Mail ship which sails from Cape Town twice monthly.

"The island will have open skies but it’s planned to start its own St Helena airline to provide regular scheduled services. Flights from Cape Town are expected to take three and a half hours. Tenders will be called for soon and a contract awarded early next year."

Source [IOL]

Before flights can start however, an airport will have to be constructed. 

St Helena's remote location in the Atlantic.

After various delays, a contract was finally awarded to Italian construction firm Impregilo in 2008 with  construction expected to last 3 years (2012 - 2015) and costing USD319million.

Originally planned to accommodate either Airbus A319s, Boeing 737-800s or Boeing 757-200s, a decision taken to shorten the runways length will invariably limit the airport to servicing Boeing 737-700s, which in turn will limit the variety of destinations served from St Helena to either Angola or Namibia with a full payload, or Cape Town and Johannesburg with a reduced payload.

► SOUTH AFRICA: SAA looking at Ghana for a potential West Africa hub as biting economic times push Mango to go regional.

In a Q&A session before the South African Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises on Tuesday 28 August 2012, South African Airways (SA) CEO Siza Mzimela gave an overview of SAA's current financial state and outlook in addition to future route developments, critical to the carrier's long term viability.

►► SOUTH AFRICA: "Business Rescue Specialist" appointed to 1Time earning workforce a reprieve but some routes to face the axe.

Following on from our report last week that South African firm 1Time Holdings had declared its two subsidiaries, LCC 1Time (T6) and maintenance arm JetWorx, to be in financial distress, the South African Companies Intellectual Properties Commission (CIPC), has approved a Nominated Business Practitioner (NBP) to oversee 1Time's business plan reform process over the coming next three months - Gerhard Holtzhauzen, CEO of Strategic Turnaround Solutions, has been appointed.

Holtzhauzen was positive about the company's potential: "We have a head-start because a turnaround strategy for 1time has been contemplated by a proactive management team."

Source [BusinessDay]

During "Business Rescue", a distressed company is given a 3 month long protection period from creditors while the business is (hopefully) turned around - more or less equivalent to filing Chapter 11 in the US. The company will continue to operate normally though there will obviously be a review of the airline's operations and current routes in order to cut away the deadwood and retain the most profitable ones.

Meanwhile, the news given some breathing room to both companies, in particular to Jetworx whose trade union Solidarity, was last week warned the division faced job cuts of up to 25%. The appointment of NBP Gerhard Holtzhauzen has meant the job cuts will be deferred, though not necessarily abandoned.

"During yesterday’s consultation, we were informed that the process had been put off for the time being owing to the appointment of a business rescue specialist. The specialist must draw up a refinancing and restructuring plan for the company. The company will also be given the opportunity to develop and to implement a business rescue plan and to carry on its operations at the same time. 1time Holdings, Jetworx and the business rescue specialist will be requested in a letter to involve Solidarity in the process.” Solidarity spokesperson Marius Croucamp said.

Source [Solidarity]

  

Blacky Komani - 1Time CEO (CP)

In addition, unprofitable routes may also go, with the first rumoured to be 1Time's service to Mombasa, Kenya, though the reason for dropping the route may have more to do with soaring costs and charges in Kenya, than 1Times own internal woes.

"If this is true [1Time's withdrawal from Mombasa], other airlines might follow if charges keep going up. Authorities at times in the past just raised fees with little notice and until fares are adjusted the carriers have to absorb that added cost. Proposals in the new VAT bill spell doom for aviation in Kenya, like moving from an exempt status to a double digit tax figure. Those who drafted the bill are either totally uninformed or else agents of doom for the airline industry in Kenya."

Source [Wolfganghthome]

The next three months are going to be most interesting for 1Time and Jetworx as various painful measures are implemented in order to see the two companies remain afloat.

►[UPDATE 29 AUGUST 2012] 1Time officially cuts Mombasa route as of 17 September 2012.

► MAURITIUS: Air Mauritius resumes direct Durban flights over Christmas period.

Mauritian carrier Air Mauritius (MK) will, between 21 December 2012 and 13 January 2013, operate a twice weekly Durban night flight on a Friday & Sunday. No mention as yet has been made as to what equipment they will operate on the route, though it is likely to be an Airbus A319. 

Whilst currently operating directly to Durban, Air Mauritius will axe the route from 23 October 2012.

Air Mauritius: Port Louis, Mauritius - Durban, South Africa

- Effective 21 December 2012 until 13 January 2012

• MK8845 MRU 2045 - 2305 DUR A319 | 57
• MK8846 DUR 2355 - 0545+1 MRU A319 | 57

Source [Amadeus]

► ZIMBABWE: Wilderness Safaris applies for a commercial airline licence.

Yet another player is attempting to enter the Zimbabwean airline market, this time its regional safari operators Wilderness Safaris whose Zimbabwean arm has applied for a commercial airline licence to service domestic, regional and international routes.

Established in 1983, Wilderness Safaris is a conservation organisation and ecotourism company dedicated to providing responsible tourism in the areas in which it operates camps and safaris namely: Botswana, Congo, Kenya, Namibia, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the Seychelles.

Wilderness' pending entry into the Zimbabwean aviation scene along side Sol Air, Fresh Air, Phoenix Air, Bumi Air and Anjin Investments, comes as some players in the troubled country's tourism industry have had to take matters into their own hands and provide their own air services - case in point "Bumi Air", a recently established air service operating between Harare, Bumi Hills Safari Lodge (near Kariba) and Victoria Falls - a route that used to be plied by Air Zimbabwe.

Bumi Air in Harare (Luck Brown)

In July, controversial diamond mining firm, Anjin Investments, a 50/50 joint venture between the government-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) and Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Company Ltd of China, also applied for a commercial airline licence to service domestic, regional and international routes, having acquired a new 12-seater corporate-commuter aircraft shortly thereafter.

Prospects for an established national carrier akin to the now quasi-defunct Air Zimbabwe appear to be bleak to non existent. Having asked rival South African Airways in early August to be the official carrier for the United Nations World Tourism Organisation General Assembly (UNWTO) set for next year in Victoria Falls, it appears that not even the Zimbabwean Government is banking on Air Zimbabwe (UM) returning to viable and reliable service any time soon, though with 2 Airbus A320s already painted in UM colours, Air Zimbabwe may just have the last laugh.

Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) chief executive officer Karikoga Kaseke said:

"Even if Air Zimbabwe was flying, what we are looking at is access to destinations,” Kaseke said. “We look at an airline that has got the most connection from all destinations. “So South African Airways is well connected because it flies to far many more destinations than any other airlines. “So it’s not about Air Zimbabwe’s woes that we are talking about here. “Even if Air Zimbabwe was not having any problems, I think the first reasonable decision would be to say South African Airways is the preferred airline.”"

Source [NewsDay Zimbabwe]

1Time/FreshAir in Harare (Luck Brown)

In recent weeks, the stakes have been upped - South African LCC 1Time recently announced its entry into a joint venture with local outfit Nu-Aero, to be called "Fresh Air" with scheduled flights to start flights in September,  Emirates (EK), 1 year on from its inaugural Harare flight, is to next year increase capacity on the route to a Boeing 777-300ER whilst LAM Mozambique (TM) and Dutch carrier KLM are both set to return from late October. With more and more international carriers expressing interest in serving Harare, local players are going to find it harder and harder to create and maintain a viable niche for themselves should they choose the regional and international route.

► ANGOLA: TAP Portugal and TAAG considering flights to Catumbela?

Built by Brazilian contractors Oderbrecht International with finishing touches applied by Portuguese firm, Somague at a total cost of US$250 million and consisting of a new passenger terminal capable of handling 900 passengers/hour, 16 check-in counters, 18 immigration booths, two boarding bridges that can handle four aircraft simultaneously, a 3'500 metre long runway and an apron that can hold four Boeing 777-300 or Boeing 767 aircraft or 22 small/medium sized aircraft at the same time, Angola's new Catumbela Airport, in Benguela Province was on Monday, officially opened by Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos.

■ KENYA: Kenya Airways gets licence for LCC JamboJet; set to seal a USD80million loan, but will Government bungling be its undoing?

After a hefty 57% drop in annual profits coupled with the nasty storm kicked up by its planned workforce layoffs earlier this month, Kenya Airways' (KQ) has at last announced some positive news to the effect that it has been granted an operator's licence for its planned Low Cost Carrier (LCC), Jambo Jet, by the Kenyan Civil Aviation Authority. Additionally, the airline is about to seal a loan for roughly USD80million (KSh7billion) with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of a larger financing deal worth KSh34billion ($400 million), necessary to finance the carrier's pre-delivery payments for a fleet of nine Boeing 787-800 Dreamliners, the first of which is expected in 2014.

The loan is yet to be signed, though the terms have been agreed to, which is no surprise given that the IFC has a 9.56% shareholding in the Kenyan carrier.

'Negotiations for the loan are already at an advanced stage, the outgoing IFC director for eastern and southern Africa Jean Philippe Prosper, said in an interview.

“We have agreed with Kenya Airways on the terms of the loan, but we have not signed it yet. We will do the signing in the next few months,” said Mr Prosper.'

Source [BusinessDaily Africa]

Prosper noted that the deal was a part of a larger USD$400million loan that would be used to help finance Kenya Airways fleet renewal program involving the purchase of nine (9) new Boeing 787-800s (Dreamliners) (B787s), one (1) Boeing 777-300ER (B777-300ER), and ten (10) Embraer EMB190 aircraft (E-190s).

Kenya Airways latest E190 in Brazil

Notable too is that Tanzania's Precision Air, in whom Kenya Airways has a 41% shareholding, will receive a tranche of  "between USD4 million to USD6 million" from the IFC loan. Why notable? Because Precision Air will be a direct competitor to Jambo Jet, Kenya Airways' first  venture into the LCC market after an 8 year hiatus following its previous attempt - Flamingo Airlines - which fizzled out when the subsidiary was quietly absorbed into KQ. Jambo Jet's operating licence will permit it to operate air services, for both passengers and cargo, within Kenya and to other African countries using Boeing 737s and Embraer Jets, of which a new one is due this week.

JamboJet will in the long term, take over its parent's short-haul domestic and regional flights, leaving Kenya Airways to focus on growing its connections between Africa and international markets.

According to The Nation newspaper, its first destinations in Kenya are slated to be:

• Wajir
• Eldoret
• Kisumu
• Mombasa
• Lamu
• Malindi

While its regional routes will start with:

• Dar-es-salaam, Mwanza, Zanzibar, Pemba and Kilimanjaro (Tanzania)
• Entebbe (Uganda)
• Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)
• Antananarivo (Madagascar)
• Bujumbura (Burundi)
• Kigali (Rwanda)
• Hargeisa (Somaliland)
• Juba (South Sudan)
• Goma and Kisangani (Democratic Republic of Congo)
• Moroni and Dzaoudzi (Comoros Island)

 Source [The Nation, Kenya]

Frustratingly, Kenya Airways hasn't been getting all its own way on the aviation infrastructure scene; after all an efficient Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is critical to Kenya Airways' long term success.

Whilst rivals Ethiopia, Tanzania, Rwanda and even South Sudan are all pushing ahead with new airports and new expansion projects, the Kenyan national carrier is finding itself trapped in a massive quagmire of uncertainty, as revelations of favouritism and now bribery threaten to derail Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport's (JKIA) new Greenfield Terminal (also known as Terminal 4) and a second runway expansion plan.

What should have started in 2005 has taken 7 years to get off the ground as a result of insufficient funding, and now revelations of bribery and corruption have reared their ugly head.

 Jomo Kenyatta International Airport's Terminal 4 Expansion Plan

The Kenya Airports Authority Board recently sent its Managing Director Stephen Gichuki on compulsory leave over Nairobi's JKIA expansion tender saga, to allow for further investigations following Transport minister Amos Kimunya's halting of the USD660million project after he suspected corrupt dealings in the awarding of the tender, won by Anhui Construction Engineering Group of China. The board has, however, backed the minister’s step to revoke the tender given to a Chinese firm, saying that Kenyans could have lost money. At the time of writing this article, there appears to be no short term solution to the impasse.

In a statement on the matter, KQ's Boss Titus Naikuni said that persistent delays would ultimately end up hurting Kenya Airways' expansion plans:

“The significance of this project to our continued profitability as an airline cannot be under-estimated. Kenya Airways and its partners in the SkyTeam alliance will contribute 70-80 per cent of the traffic to the new terminal. The cost of constructing the new terminal will be borne by the passengers that we will put through the new terminal. It is therefore logical that we must be listened to and be seen to be heard,” said Naikuni.

Source [StandardMedia]

Kenya Airways' ordeal with the slow turning wheels of Government decision making highlight a problem few countries in Africa truly take into consideration - that regardless of ambition, a private company is only as efficient as its operating environment allows it to be. With its regional neighbours taking their game up a notch, Kenya, and consequently Kenya Airways, will invariably be forced into playing a game of "Catch Up", as opposed to "Follow the Leader", if it is unable to proceed with infrastructure projects in a transparent manner.