After a heavy loss of USD26.8million during the 2010/2011 Financial Year, The Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) announced yesterday that it had made a profit of USD22million for the 2011/2012 Financial Year, though it is unlikely that any South African airlines will be joining in the celebrations, as the main factor behind ACSA's return to profitability - a 70% hike in its tariffs - is one of the reasons why 1Time is in Business Rescue and Comair Limited posted no dividend for the same Financial Year.
Antalya-based tour operator Corendon Airlines (XC), a joint Turkish and Dutch registered airline, today announced that effective 1 October the carrier would launch a weekly Amsterdam, Holland - Banjul, The Gambia service which would increase to a 3x weekly service from 1 November onwards.
Its 22nd destination in Africa, Dubai based Emirates (EK) today announced it will serve the Algerian capital, Algiers, with a daily Airbus A330-200 effective 1 March 2013. With the Airbus A330's belly-hold capacity of 12
tonnes, Emirates SkyCargo expects to export commodities such as frozen fish, lobsters, oil and gas equipment and
palm oil to points across its network whilst imports including a variety of
manufactured goods are expected to form the bulk of goods shipped into Algeria.
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.
As part of their strategy of efficient utilisation of their aircraft, Namibian carrier Air Namibia (SW) have again announced various changes to both their regional and international network, effective from October 2012 (the precise dates are subject to each individual post).
Originally due in Q4 of this year, Morocco's national carrier, Royal Air Maroc (AT), will only, according to press reports, be taking delivery of its first two Boeing 787 Dreamliners in Q4 2014, which now means that Kenya Airways (KQ) will be the second African operator of the type after Ethiopian Airlines (ET), if their Boeing 787 order comes through in late 2013.
South Africa's Comair Ltd, the parent company of British Airways (Comair) (BA) and LCC Kulula (MN) today reported that it would not issue a dividend despite seeing a 16% growth in its revenue from USD440million in June 2011, to USD510million for the year ending June 30, 2012.
Eritrean Airlines (B8), the Eritrean national carrier, has announced that effective 1 October 2012, it will drop Frankfurt, Germany from its route network. The route is currently serviced once weekly via Rome, Italy using an Airbus A319, down from its original 3x weekly frequency when the route was inaugurated in April.
Using its various interline partners in West Africa, Saudi Airlines Cargo (SV) is to launch cargo services from Jeddah and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire), Accra (Ghana), Cotonou (Benin), Douala (Cameroon), Libreville (Gabon), Lomé (Togo), Malabo (Equatorial Guinea), Niamey (Niger) and Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) via its new Lagos, Nigeria hub, which it presently serves with a daily Boeing 747F.
Mozambican national carrier LAM Mozambique (TM) is, at the end of this month, to receive a Boeing 737-500 (likely MSN: 25418 | ZS-PKV), in addition to its third and final Embraer E190 due in late October/early November, as the carrier moves to consolidate itself domestically and regionally writes the Mozambican national daily, O País.
Emirates (EK) is to increase its Airbus A340-500 operated flights between Dubai and Mahé, Seychelles from 11x weekly, to 12x weekly with an added Monday flight effective 3 December 2012. From 5 February 2013, the airline is to add a 13th weekly frequency on a Tuesday.
AeroVista's Tanzanian subsidiary, currently embroiled in a dispute with Tanzanian national carrier Air Tanzania (TC) over a cancelled lease for its Boeing 737-500 (MSN 27354 | 4L-AJB), has applied for and received an Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) from the Tanzanian Civil Aviation Authority for its Boeing 737s. The certificate is essentially an approval granted from a national aviation authority to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial purposes.
Gambia Bird, the new 90/10 venture between German carrier, Germania (ST) and the Gambian government is shortly to receive its first Airbus A319-100 (MSN 4663 | D-ASTA) as the company looks to enter the West African market with initial flights expected to be between Banjul, Gambia and Conakry (Guinea), Dakar (Senegal), Freetown (Sierra Leone) and Lagos (Nigeria). London Gatwick has also been mentioned as a likely destination.
Zimbabwean aviation blog, Harare Airport Blogger, reports that private Zimbabwean start-up LCC, FreshAir, a 51/49 joint venture between Nu.Com (Pvt) Ltd of Zimbabwe and 1Time Holdings Ltd of South Africa, has unveiled its logo and has begun to advertise for routes between Harare, Bulawayo, Johannesburg and Victoria Falls with flights costing from USD50. Its website however - http://www.fly-fresh.com - is still under construction.
