■ ANGOLA: Construction of new M'banza-Kongo airport to begin in Q1 2013.

Construction of the new airport for the city of M'banza-Kongo (Zaire Province), Angola will begin after February 2013. The 800hectare site, situated in N’kiende II, 32 kilometres outside the city centre, is currently being cleared of land mines.

■ EGYPT: Egyptair Express to be liquidated, with E170 fleet returned to Egyptair on the back of poor finances.

According to Egyptian paper, Ahram, EgyptAir Express (MSE) is to be reintegrated into its parent company, Egyptair (MS), six years after it was launched to offer passengers increased frequencies on domestic and thin international routes, such as Cairo-Budapest.

 

► NIGERIA: KLM, Air France announce capacity changes on Nigeria routes for 2013.

KLM Dutch Airlines (KL) and Air France (AF) have announced various changes to their Nigerian operations for 2013. Effective 31 March 2013, Air France is to boost capacity on its Abuja/Port Harcourt route while for the duration of June, KLM is to reduce capacity on its Lagos flights.

► SPAIN: Ethiopian to start Madrid via Rome from June 2013.

Ethiopian Airlines (ET) are to start flights to Madrid, Spain via Rome, Italy starting 15 June 2013 with a 3x weekly Boeing 757 service. Consequently, Ethiopian's overall Rome service will increase from 8x to 11x weekly (Northbound, 10 on Southbound).

► COTE D'IVOIRE: ASKY Airlines to launch direct Lagos - Abidjan flights from next week.

ASKY Airlines (KP) will next week launch 3x weekly flights between the Ivorian capital, Abidjan, and the Nigerian city of Lagos using their recently delivered Bombardier Q400 aircraft. 

■ ZIMBABWE: Air Zimbabwe renews membership of Galileo, Sabre and Amadeus as IATA Safety Audit is slated for next week.

Air Zimbabwe (UM), now back in the air for almost 1 month, are clawing their way back onto the regional market, with news that they have renewed their memberships with CRSs  Galileo, Amadeus, Sabre and Travel Sky from whom they were suspended in May 2011 following non payment of fees.

► TURKEY: Egyptair increases Istanbul from 14x to 17x weekly from January 2013.

Egyptian national carrier, EgyptAir (MS), from 16 January 2013, will increase its frequency between Cairo and Istanbul, Turkey, from 14x to 17x weekly.

■ SOUTH AFRICA: 1Time liquidators seek deadline deferment to February 2013 as talks with fastjet go on.

Liquidators for defunct South African LCC 1Time (T6) today applied for a postponement of the deadline for the final liquidation of the airline, as talks with fastjet (FN) continue. The recently launched Tanzania-based LCC confirmed last week that it was in negotiations with the management, directors and provisional liquidator of 1Time (T6) over a possible buy out which would eventually pave the way for a fastjet entry into the South African market.

► CHINA: Kenya Airways signs codeshare deal with China Eastern Airlines.

China Eastern Airlines (MU), China's second biggest carrier by market value, and Kenya Airways (KQ), the flag carrier of Kenya, have signed a code.share deal which will see cooperation on MU's China - Thailand route and KQ's Thailand - Kenya routes, effective 1 December 2012.

► COTE D'IVOIRE: Air Cote d'Ivoire to add an Embraer E170 as further routes in West Africa are announced.

According to Airline Route, the Ivory Coast's new national carrier, Air Côte d’Ivoire (HF), is set to receive an Embraer E170 to add to its two Airbus A319s, as the airline seeks to expand its operations.

■ GUINEA: Etihad Airways to serve Conakry via codeshare with Royal Air Maroc.

Etihad Airways (EY), the national airline of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has announced it will establish air links between the UAE and Guinea, in West Africa, by extending its existing code-share agreement with Moroccan national airline, Royal Air Maroc (AT).

► GAMBIA: Gambia Bird takes delivery of second Airbus A319; prepares to expand network.

Gambia Bird (3G) has announced the delivery of a second Airbus A319 (MSN 4691 | D-ASTB) as the fledgling carrier prepares to expand its network with the launch of flights to Abidjan, Abuja, Bamako, Douala and Ouagadougou.

► SINGAPORE: Air Mauritius maintains Singapore service from late January 2013.

According to Airline Route, Air Mauritius (MK) will maintain its 1x weekly service to Singapore on/after 21 January 2013. The flight currently operates with an Airbus A330-200.

■ NIGERIA: AeroContractors appoints Ibru as Interim MD after Akin George resigns.

Captain Akin George, the Managing Director of Nigeria's second largest domestic airline, Aero Contractors (AJ), has announced his resignation following a restructuring exercise undertaken by the Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON).

■ SOUTH AFRICA: Denel Aviation to retrench 523 as SAAF confirms contract will not be renewed.

523 aircraft maintenance specialists at Denel Aviation’s Aero Manpower Group, the MRO division of the South Africa's government-backed Denel Corporation, are to be retrenched as a result of the South African Air Force (SAAF) deciding against renewing its contract with the firm, set to lapse next year.

► CHINA: Ethiopian Airlines modifies its planned Boeing 787 China Service in Dec 2012/Jan 2013.

According to the 10 December 2012 GDS timetable and inventory display, Ethiopian Airlines (ET) is postponing its planned Boeing 787 ops to China from 16 December 2012 to 31 January 2013. 

 

► ZAMBIA: DC9 crash landing this morning was just a simulation: AFP

Those of you who follow us on Twitter will have been aware this morning of an Agence France-Presse (AFP) report coming from Lusaka, Zambia of a crash landing of a DC 9 (and in some cases, a DC 10 was even reported) with 93 people aboard at Lusaka International. It was even tweeted that "some 20 people had been rescued".

► SUDAN: Gulf Air reduces Khartoum flights from late January 2013.

Bahraini carrier Gulf Air (GF) has announced that, with effect from 21 January 2013, it will reduce its frequencies to the Sudanese capital, Khartoum from 11x to 7x weekly.

► CHINA: See Pics of Eritrean startup Massawa Airways' first MA60's delivery ceremony in Xi'an.

Eritrean startup Massawa Airways, on 29 November, officially took delivery of its first Chinese manufactured MA60 (TBD10 | E3-AAV). 

► DUBAI: Afriqiyah to launch 2x weekly Benghazi, Tripoli - Dubai flights from 20 December.

According to their official Twitter account, Libyan airline Afriqiyah (8U) has announced that its inaugural flight to Dubai will operate from both Benghazi and Tripoli twice weekly using an Airbus A330-200.