► SOUTH AFRICA: Kulula 737 suffers engine failure during take off roll in Cape Town forcing closure of runway; no injuries.

A kulula (MN) Boeing 737-800 (MSN 28612 | ZS-ZWP) operating flight MN104 from Cape Town International to Johannesburg, South Africa, at 15h00L suffered an engine failure during its take off roll. One of Cape Town's two runways was subsequently shut for a brief period to allow for inspection and clearance of any debris.

► NIGERIA: Saudia Cargo boosts Hong Kong - Lagos flights on back of strong demand.

Saudi Airlines cargo division, Saudia Cargo (SV), has announced that it will add one additional weekly flight on its Hong Kong - Lagos route effective March 2013. Overall, the increase will result in there being 9 weekly flights from Hong Kong and 8 to Lagos, its West African hub.

► JAPAN: Egyptair to reduce Tokyo Narita ops from 31 March.

As per the 27FEB13 GDS timetable and inventory display, Egyptair (MS), starting 31MAR13, is to reduce its Cairo – Tokyo Narita service from 3 to 2 weekly. 

► ZAMBIA: Proflight set to take delivery of a 737 in May for use on Lusaka - Livingstone flights during UNWTO.

Domestic operator Proflight Zambia (P0), is looking to take delivery of a Boeing 737-200ADV in late April for use on its domestic routes during the upcoming XXth United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly to be jointly held in Livingstone & Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe in August this year.

►► ETHIOPIA: ASKY Airlines now codesharing with Ethiopian on the latter's West Africa, Brazil flights.

[UPDATE 26 FEBRUARY] Ethiopian Airlines (ET) and its West African subsidiary ASKY Airlines (KP) have expanded their code-sharing agreement to now cover the majority of Ethiopian's routes between Ethiopia and West Africa with Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, Benin, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Togo and Burkina Faso now operating with an ASKY IATA code (KP).

■ TANZANIA: Precision Air sees a 6% increase in pax uplifted over NOV12 - JAN13 period.

Tanzania's Precision Air (PW) says it has registered a 6% growth in passenger traffic for the period NOV12 - JAN13 with an overall growth of 13% for the period APR12 to JAN13.

► NIGERIA: Discovery Air outlines its planned route network though launch date is still uncertain.

Nigerian startup Discovery Air has outlined its intended route network with various domestic and regional destinations planned. The Lagos based carrier intends to launch commercial flight services with a fleet of Boeing 737-300s and Bombardier CRJ-200s, though when exactly, remains uncertain.

► TANZANIA: fastjet to start daily Kilimanjaro - Mwanza & Zanzibar ops from mid March.

Tanzanian LCC Fastjet (FN), is to expand its network with the announcement today of the launch of daily Kilimanjaro - Mwanza and daily Kilimanjaro - Zanzibar flights effective 18 March. Both flights will operate with an Airbus A320.

► EGYPT: Sky Cruise hot air balloon explodes in mid flight over Luxor; 19 dead.

A hot air balloon belonging to Sky Cruise - Egyptian Airship & Balloon Co. of Luxor, this morning burst into flames in mid air, before plummeting to the ground killing 19 tourists who were on-board. Two passengers - the balloon pilot and a tourist  - were said to have survived, but have sustained serious burns and have been taken to a local hospital in Luxor, about 450km south of Cairo.

► EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Air Annobón finally starts operations with daily Bata - Malabo flights.

Enigmatic Equatoguinean startup, Air Annobón, has at long last launched scheduled flights, albeit one month ago. Operations are understood to have commenced on 25 January using only one (and not two) BAe146-300s.

■ SOUTH AFRICA: Comair Ltd takes SAA's current and previous bailouts to the High Court; disputes their legality.

South Africa's Comair Ltd, the British Airways (BA) franchise owner for South Africa and owner of LCC kulula (MN), is to dispute the legality of South African national carrier, South African Airways (SA)'s ZAR5billion bail out from Government last year and its previous injections amounting to ZAR11billion, in the High Court in Pretoria tomorrow.

► ICELAND: Air Madagascar to transfer its A340 onto Air Atlanta Icelandic's registry in hopes of using them on EU bound flights.

Air Madagascar (MD) has entered into an agreement with Icelandic ACMI specialists Air Atlanta Icelandic (CC) which will result in Air Madagascar transferring

its Airbus A340 onto Air Atlanta Icelandic's registry. The aircraft will therefore fall under the supervision of the Icelandic Civil Aviation Authorities and will allow the Malagasy national carrier to resume flights to Europe using its "own" equipment, despite its categorization as an "Annex B" class carrier on the EU No Fly List.

► KENYA: Renowned conservationist, "Dangerous Flights" cameraman die in crash near Mt Kenya.

A renowned Kenyan conservationist, Dr Anthony King, and a cameraman for Discovery Channel aviation show "Dangerous Flights", John Driftmier, were killed on Sunday 24 February when their light aircraft, an Aeroprakt A-22 Foxbat (MSN 239 | 5Y-LWF), crashed near Mt Kenya.

► SOUTH AFRICA: CemAir acquires LuxAir; to launch scheduled ops to Sishen, Lephalale from Johannesburg ORTIA.

South Africa's CemAir, has announced its acquisition of LuxAir, a South African ticketing agent with a niche market on the business routes between Johannesburg (ORTIA) and Lephalale, a coal mining town in the Limpopo province of South Africa immediately east of the Waterberg Coalfield, and Johannesburg (ORTIA) - Sishen, a large iron ore mining town in the Northern Cape, South Africa.

► NIGERIA: Overland Airways goes 6x weekly from Abuja to Akure.

Nigerian domestic operator, Overland Airways (OJ) will soon launch 6x weekly Abuja - Akure flights. The carrier's website currently lists the flight as already open and operational.

■ COTE D'IVOIRE: Air Cote d'Ivoire signs up for ADSoftware's AirPack suite.

Ivorian carrier Air Cote d'Ivoire (HF) has signed a deal with French aviation software firm ADSoftware for the use of its AirPack Fleet Management System and Logistics Solutions system.

■ GAMBIA: New board appointed for Gambia International Airlines.

A new board of directors has been appointed at Gambian national carrier, Gambia International Airlines (GC), following an inauguration ceremony held at the company’s headquarters at the Banjul International Airport last week.

► SAUDI ARABIA: Nile Air to start Alexandria - Gassim from late May.

Egyptian airline Nile Air (NP) will from 26 May 2103, expand its international operations with the launch of 3x weekly Alexandria/Borg el Arab - Gassim, Saudi Arabia flights.

► SOUTH AFRICA: Area gynaecologist ventures into airline market with PE - East London flights.

New South African domestic startup, Blu Crane Air, the brainchild of Port Elizabeth gynaecologist Dr Marcus van Heerden, is to start operations in the coming weeks (tentatively 4 March) between the Eastern Cape towns of Port Elizabeth and East London in South Africa using six-seater twin-engine Cessna 414 aircraft.

■ COTE D'IVOIRE: Arab Contractors awarded $30mln contract to build new cargo terminal at Abidjan's international airport.

Egyptian construction firm, Arab Contractors, have signed a contract with the government of the Ivory Coast for USD30million for the upgrading of Abidjan's Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport's cargo facilities.