► BOTSWANA: Air Namibia to axe Gaborone from late May.

Air Namibia (SW), will from 31MAY, axe its 4x weekly Windhoek - Gaborone, Botswana flights. The rationalization comes after the carrier announced it would drop its Johannesburg - Windhoek - Accra, Ghana service from 10APR13.

► OMAN: Oman Air looks to expand Africa network as part of efforts to become profitable.

Omani national carrier, Oman Air (WY), is planning to increase its services to Africa - with Casablanca first in line - as part of its plan to become profitable. The move comes after the airline posted a loss of USD253million (OMR97.47million) for 2012.

► SOUTH AFRICA: SAAF Agusta A109LUH crashes near Kruger; 5 dead.

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has confirmed the death of five people who died on the evening of Saturday 30 March, when their South African Air Force Agusta A109 Light Utility Helicopter crashed around 19h00L just north of Satara, Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga.

► ETHIOPIA: Abedair Aviation Ethiopia rebrands itself as Aquarius Aviation.

Addis Ababa-based Aberdair Aviation Ethiopia has been re-branded as Aquarius Aviation to distinguish itself from the Nairobi-based operator, Aberdair Aviation. On launching in 2009, Aquarius leased various aircraft from Aberdair Kenya, as well as paid it royalties for the use of its name in order to help establish a reputation for the ad-hoc charter airline.

► MAURITIUS: MegaMaldives Airlines planning Beijing - Mauritius flights from July.

Mega Global Air Services, also known as MegaMaldives Airlines (5M), is planning to start a once weekly Beijing - Mauritius service from 9 July writes Swiss aviation newswire, CH-Aviation.

► NETHERLANDS: See Pic of Rwandair's first 737-700 fresh out the paint shop!

Rwandan national carrier, Rwandair's (WB), first of two Boeing 737-700NGs (MSN: 30717 | 9XR-WJ) (ex D-AHXB) leased from the  International Leasing Finance Corporation, has come out of the paint shop in Eindhoven, Netherlands.

► ZAMBIA: Mukuba Airlines, Zambia's first LCC, set to start ops in coming months with ATR42s, 72s.

Mukuba Airlines, dubbed Zambia's first Budget airline/LCC, is set to start operations in the next few months, in time for the XXth United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly to be jointly held in Livingstone & Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe in August this year.

► NIGERIA: AeroContractors resumes operations today.

As previously reported, Nigeria's second largest airline, AeroContractors (AJ), will resume flights effective today, 29 March bringing to an end, a strike that had lasted 20 days. Dana Air (9J) however, remains grounded despite being given the go ahead by government to resume operations nearly 2 weeks ago.

► GHANA: RwandAir announces Douala, Accra, Juba as next destinations to come in June/July.

With the imminent arrival of the first of two Boeing 737-700NGs, replacing the airline's Boeing 737-500s whose leases expire mid year, Rwandair (WB) has announced that Douala and Accra will be the airline's next new destinations from 1 June 2013.

►► KENYA: Etihad Airways, Kenya Airways sign partnership deal; KQ to launch 3x weekly Abu Dhabi flights from July.

[UPDATE 29 MARCH] Etihad Airways(EY), has signed a strategic commercial partnership agreement with Kenya Airways (KQ), which will see Etihad Airways placing its EY code on Kenya Airways flights while Kenya Airways will place its KQ code on Etihad Airways’ daily service from Nairobi to Abu Dhabi and, subject to government approval, onto Etihad various other routes.

► CAMEROON: Camair-Co outlines Summer 2013 schedule changes; starts Abidjan from June.

CH-Aviation reports that, as part of its Summer 2013 schedule, Camair-Co(QC), the Cameroonian national carrier, has announced it is to start flights between Douala and Abidjan effective 04JUN. Additionally, the carrier has been awarded 5th Freedom rights on the Brazzaville - Kinshasa sectors of of its Douala - Brazzaville - Kinshasa flights, along with Lagos - Cotonou on its Douala - Lagos - Cotonou flights.

● BOTSWANA: New Civil Aviation Act, Aviation Security Act now being actively enforced by government.

Two important Civil Aviation Laws have now come into force in Botswana - The Civil Aviation Act (2011) and the Aviation Security Act (2011). The laws were crafted following numerous deficiencies relating to the primary aviation law and other elements of Botswana’s safety oversight system and aviation security system, that were identified by the ICAO's Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) in 2006 and Universal Security Audit Programme (USAP) of 2008.

► MALAWI: Ulendo Airlink releases its Low & High Season domestic schedule for 2013/2014.

Ulendo Airlink (7Q), the trading name for Nyasa Express - the aviation division of Malawi’s Ulendo Travel Group - has outlined its High Season (01JUL13 - 31OCT13) and Low Season (15MAR13 - 30JUN13 & 01NOV13 - 15JAN14) domestic timetable.

■ SOMALIA: Mogadishu Aden Adde International Airport closed for 2 hours following bomb scare.

Mogadishu's Aden Adde International Airport was temporarily closed today after a vehicle belonging to ground-handling services provider, SKA Logistics, was suspected of carrying explosives.

► GAMBIA: Damaged A319 forces Gambia Bird to temporarily reduce its operations.

Gambia Bird (3G), the 90/10 venture between German carrier, Germania (ST) and the Gambian government, has announced that it will temporarily reduce its flight schedule in the coming weeks owing to damage sustained by one of its Airbus A319s.

■ MOZAMBIQUE: AdM to increase airport taxes to offset $350mln airport renovation debts.

Aeroportos de Moçambique (AdM), the Mozambican parastatal tasked with running the country's major airports and airspace, is set to increase passenger fees to help pay for the ongoing modernization and upgrading of Mozambique's airports.

■ SOUTH AFRICA: SAA selects Rockwell Collins avionics suite for use in Airbus A320/A319 fleet.

South African Airways (SA) has selected  Rockwell Collins' communications, surveillance and navigation avionics for use on 20 new Airbus A320 aircraft. The selection includes Rockwell Collins' MultiScan Threat Detection System, GLU-925 Multi-Mode Receiver (MMR), and Iridium SATCOM system. Deliveries are scheduled to begin later this year. The airline also plans to retrofit MultiScan on its current fleet of 11 A319 aircraft.

►► SOUTH AFRICA: SA Airlink boosts Joburg - Upington flights from May.

[UPDATE 27 MARCH] SA Airlink, the regional and domestic arm of South African Airways (SA), will from 6 May, increase its frequencies to Upington, Northern Cape, with the introduction of a new 4x weekly early bird flight from Johannesburg leaving at 07h10 with the return leaving Upington at 09h25.

■ NIGERIA: Government finalizes plans to source funding for new national carrier as ATR pitches its turboprops for use in the Aviation Intervention Fund.

After a meeting of the Economic Management Team chaired by President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja, the Nigerian government is set to finalize plans for funding for the establishment of a national carrier.

► SOUTH AFRICA: Russia looking to sell SSJ100s, MS21s passenger jets to South African buyers.

Russia's Interfax news agency reports that undisclosed South African buyers are in talks with aircraft manufacturer, Sukhoi, over a possible deal for the purchase of Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) passenger jets as well as Irkut MS-21s.