► ZIMBABWE: Very low pax uptake for Air Zimbabwe's regional routes.

In what is fast becoming a bad trait associated with Air Zimbabwe (UM), the carrier on Monday, flew an empty (i.e no pax) Boeing 767 aircraft from Johannesburg to Harare on its inaugural flight, as the carrier struggles to resume regional operations.

► CONGO (KINSHASA): See Pics of CAA's Fokker 50 in the new livery!

Kinshasa-based private carrier Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation CAA (FPY) has adopted a new livery and corporate image.

► SOUTH SUDAN: Kenyan Fokker 50 crash lands in Aweil; no casualties.

News wires are reporting the crash landing this afternoon, of a Kenyan Skyward International Fokker 50 (MSN: 20175 | 5Y-CAN) in Aweil, the capital of Northern Bhar al Ghazal state, South Sudan. The flight was carrying members of the International Office of Migration (IOM) returning from a conference in Khartoum, Sudan.

 

■■ SOUTH AFRICA: 7 million litres of fuel contaminated in pipeline to Joburg OR Tambo International.

UPDATE [16 NOVEMBER 2012 19h00L]The Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) this morning issued a statement to the effect that fuel in its AVTUR pipeline to Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport had been contaminated with "off-specification Jet A-1" and had therefore been rendered unfit for use by airlines.

■ SOUTH AFRICA: Johannesburg's Lanseria Airport sold to Harith, BEE consortium.

Johannesburg's Lanseria International Airport has been sold to a consortium of investors, it has been announced. The consortium consists of Harith, an infrastructure development fund management company and a Black Economic Empowerment consortium which includes the women's empowerment company Nozala; and the Government Employee Pension Fund (GEPF), through the Public Investment Corporation (PIC).

► SOMALIA: Ethiopian boosts Berbera capacity from December.

Ethiopian Airlines (ET) will, from 1 December 2012, increase its capacity from Addis Ababa to the coastal town of Berbera in Somaliland, Somalia, by operating a Boeing 737-700 on the route 5x weekly. The daily flight is currently operated by a Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 exclusively.

► KENYA: Jetlink Express ceases operations citing South Sudanese forex crunch.

Citing "an inability to access USD2million (KES171million) worth of funds tied up in South Sudan", Kenya's Jetlink Express (J0) has announced that effective today, Friday 16 November 2012, it is suspending operations.

● ETHIOPIA: Class of 2012 graduates from the Ethiopian Aviation Academy.

At a ceremony held in Addis Ababa on 13 November, 255 trainees graduated from the Ethiopian Aviation Academy schools of aviation maintenance, marketing and cabin crew. Of the 255, one hundred and fifty are maintenance technicians (of whom four are Tanzanian nationals), sixty cabin crew and forty four are marketing trainees.

► SOUTH AFRICA: British Airways boosts Johannesburg from late April 2013.

British Airways (BA) will once again boost its London Heathrow – Johannesburg, South Africa frequencies  from 14x to 17x weekly effective 29 April 2013. A Boeing 777-200ER will add capacity.

► UNITED KINGDOM: Libyan Airlines resumes Heathrow flights; hopes for removal from EU Ban List at upcoming safety review.

Libyan carrier, Libyan Airlines (LN), yesterday (Wednesday 14 November) resumed twice weekly flights between Tripoli and London Heathrow, UK using an Airbus A320. In September, the carrier resumed its Tripoli, Libya - Manchester, United Kingdom service that was suspended in 2011 due to the Libyan Civil War. 

► ALGERIA: Tassili Airlines to start domestic ops next year?

Algeria's Tassili Airlines (SF), until now a charter company operating flights mainly for oil companies, will "at some point in the first half of 2013", launch scheduled domestic Algerian operations, which until now, has remained the preserve of Air Algèrie.

► SENEGAL: Senegal Airlines starts Libreville and direct Cotonou flights; inks code-share with Corsair for daily Paris ops from February 2013.

Senegalese national carrier, Senegal Airlines (DN), has signed a code-share deal with French carrier Corsair International (SS) which will result the introduction of daily flights Dakar-Paris-Dakar flights from February 2013 on.

► CHINA: Air Mauritius goes direct to Shanghai from January 2013.

Air Mauritius (MK) has announced that, from 24 January 2013, it will launch twice weekly Airbus A340 Mauritius - Shanghai, China non stop flights, with connections being offered to and from Reunion and South Africa. The flight will continue to operate via Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia until the January switch over.

► LIBYA: Air Libya gets two B737-400s; an ARJ-100 set to arrive shortly.

Air Libya (7Q), the private Libyan carrier formerly known as Tibesti Air Libya, has announced the lease of 2 Boeing B737-400 for use on its daily Benghazi - Alexandria, Egypt flights.

► ZAMBIA: Zambezi Airlines ceases ops until 2013?

News reports out of Zambia are claiming that private carrier, Zambezi Airlines (ZJ), has ceased operations owing to a serious liquidity crunch.

■ ETHIOPIA: Ethiopian Airlines to launch e-freight initiative by year's end.

In a bid to reduce both the amount of paperwork and time needed to process airway bills and other travel documents necessary for cargo shipments, Ethiopian Airlines (ET) will, by the end of the year, introduce e-freight to certain cargo destinations.

► ITALY: Tunisair set for Bologna flights from April 2013.

Tunisian national carrier, Tunisair (TU), will from 1 April 2013 relaunch its Tunis – Bologna service, offering thrice weekly flights with Airbus A319/320 aircraft. The carrier last operated this route in July 1989 using a once weekly Boeing 727.

► TANZANIA: fastjet website now live; announces timetable.

fastjet (FN) this morning activated their online booking portal - www.fastjet.com - thereby allowing passengers the option of making online reservations. Additionally, the carrier can now be followed on Facebook and Twitter.

►► LIBYA: Afriqiyah announces Paris, Casablanca, Rome, Khartoum, Dubai from December.

Libyan carrier, Afriqiyah (8U), has announced plans to launch various new routes ex-Tripoli and ex-Benghazi effective 1 December.

► NIGERIA: Aero Contractors gets two extra 737-400s as Parliament launches safety inquest.

Nigeria's second largest domestic airline, Aero Contractors (AJ), has acquired two additional Boeing 737-400 aircraft, bringing its total fleet to 12, the company's publicists said in a statement Monday.