► SOMALIA: Reports claim Somali Airlines to resume operations after a 23 year hiatus.

Uncorroborated reports out of Somalia claim that after nearly 25 years of dormancy, the Somali government has resurrected defunct national carrier, Somali Airlines (HH).

► UNITED KINGDOM: Ethiopian to resume 787 services to Heathrow from May 8.

Ethiopian Airlines (ET) will, from 08MAY13 to 15JUN13, be offering a resumed Boeing 787 service on its Addis Ababa – London Heathrow route, where it’ll operate 6 weekly flights. For a run down of Ethiopian's other planned 787 resumptions, see this post.

■ SEYCHELLES: Air Seychelles goes with Envision for fleet & maintenance management.

Seychelleois national carrier, Air Seychelles (HM), have awarded a contract to Rusada  for the use of its Envision suite for fleet and maintenance management. With the expansion of the airline and its route structure after the investment from and code sharing with Etihad (EY) and it's partner airlines, the need for a modern and comprehensive fleet management solution was identified by Air Seychelles' management team.

►► KENYA: A look at Kenya Airways' updated Summer 2013 Schedule, codeshare plans with Air Burkina.

[UPDATE 2 MAY 2013] AirlineRoute writes that as per the 27MAR13 GDS timetable and inventory display, the latest changes to Kenya Airways’ (KQ) planned Summer 2013 operation, effective 31MAR13, is as follows. Further changes remain possible.

► KENYA: DAC Aviation set to deploy six new Cessna Grand Caravan EXs to Nairobi Wilson for aid ops.

DAC Aviation International (DAC), a provider of aircraft charter and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services with expertise in serving aid and relief agencies in remote and conflict-affected areas, today announced the delivery of a new Cessna Grand Caravan EX (s/n: 208B5013). This aircraft is the first of six Grand Caravan EXs to be delivered to DAC by Cessna over the next six months and will be ferried to Nairobi Wilson later this month.

■ BOTSWANA: Gaborone SSKIA suffers $53'000 worth of damage to roof in unspecified incident.

Following an unspecified incident which resulted in damage to the roof and its lightning conductor, the Botswana Government, the operators of Gaborone's Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (SSKIA), have been forced to fork out USD53'000 (BWP430'000) to pay for emergency repair work.

■ NIGERIA: Airlines have spent $4.5billion on new aircraft in last 6 years: NCAA

During a recent address to the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies’ 2013 Training Workshop on Aviation and Space Law held at the University of Lagos, the Acting Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Joyce Nkemakolam, has said airlines and private aircraft owners have ploughed USD4.5billion into the acquisition of aircraft in the last six years.

■ SOUTH AFRICA: Ekurhuleni to finalize plans for Aerotropolis project at Johannesburg OR Tambo International Airport during May.

Following the recently ended Global Airport Cities 2013 conference in South Africa, the city of Ekurhuleni has announced plans to finalize its previously announced 30-year aerotropolis master plan for Johannesburg OR Tambo International Airport during the course of May. 

► UNITED KINGDOM: British Airways' proposed Entebbe, Johannesburg schedule for NW2013/14.

As per the 01MAY13 GDS timetable/inventory display, latest changes to British Airways' (BA) proposed Winter 2013/14 Africa Long-Haul operations are as follows

► ERITREA: (Pic) Massawa Airways gets first of two Beechcraft 1900Ds.

Eritrean startup, Massawa Airways, has taken delivery of its first of two Beechcraft 1900Ds (UE27 | N46AR) for use on its domestic network.

► LIBYA: Libyan Airlines inaugurates Tobruk International Airport with flights to Alexandria.

Libya's oldest airport, Tobruk, has been successfully upgraded to an  International Airport with the launch of twice weekly flights now offered to Alexandria Borg el Arab courtesy of Libyan Airlines (LN).

■ SOUTH AFRICA: Now SAExpress needs $60million in state funding to cover debt covenants with aircraft suppliers.

SA Express (XZ) is in the process of finalizing a USD60million (ZAR539million) state guarantee (read Bailout) needed to help it cover the terms of various debt covenants. The funding however, falls far short of its originally requested USD111million (ZAR1billion) extension.

■ CONGO (KINSHASA): FlyCAA boss decries heavy taxation in the DRC as discouraging a safety-first mentality amongst airlines.

Jean-Marc Pajot, the Director of Congolese domestic and regional operator, FlyCAA (a tie up between CAA - Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation (FPY), and flyCongo (EO)) says the DRC's heavy taxation of aircraft and related sundries seriously discourages and impedes airlines from pursuing a "safety-first" mentality.

► ZIMBABWE: New startup, Rainbow Airlines, wants in on the action.

Nascent carrier, Rainbow Airlines, is set to join Zimbabwe's growing list of privately backed carriers seeking to exploit the country's under-served and overpriced domestic and regional markets, a Government Gazette published last Friday reports.

► JAPAN: EgyptAir to reduce Tokyo Narita to 2x weekly from May.

Despite previous utterances claiming it would immediately cease its Tokyo and Osaka flights citing poor loads and little to no government support for the flights, Egyptair (MS), as per the 30APR13 GDS inventory display, will, during the Winter 2013/14 season, continue to operate a twice weekly Cairo – Tokyo Narita flight using a Boeing 777-200ER.

► SENEGAL: ASKY Airlines boosts Dakar ops to 6x weekly with new flight via Ouagadougou.

Ethiopian Airlines' (ET) Lomé, Togo-based subsidiary, ASKY Airlines (KP), has boosted its operations to Dakar, Senegal from 3x to 6x weekly during the course of the last month or so via the introduction of  new flight which goes via Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

► ETHIOPIA: National Airways eyes Fokker 50s, Embraer ERJ170s for future ops.

Ethiopia's National Airways (7N) is planning to add several Fokker 50s and to acquire Embraer ERJ-170s in the near future as the airline looks to expand beyond its current operations that are limited to helicopter charter flights, ad-hoc charter ops and a single scheduled weekly flight to Hargeisa (Somaliland) set to be extended to Djibouti.

► MAURITIUS: Thomson Airways plans 1x weekly Gatwick - Mauritius 787 flight from May 2014.

British charter outfit, Thomson Airways (BY), will, from May 2014, launch a 1x weekly service from London Gatwick to Mauritius on-board Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.

► ZAMBIA: Ethiopian Airlines turned off further expansion into Zambia over poor loads on Ndola flights.

Ethiopian Airlines (ET) says very poor loads on its Addis Ababa – Ndola – Lubumbashi (DRC) – Addis Ababa flights launched back in late March are a cause for concern for the airline, with the Ethiopian carrier now hesitant to further expand into Zambia.

► ETHIOPIA: Ethiopian plans changes to Johannesburg, Toronto from May/June.

Ethiopian Airlines (ET) is planning to deploy its B777-200LRs on its daily Johannesburg route effective 05MAY, replacing its current B767-300ER service, and as from 19JUN, a third weekly Addis Ababa - Toronto flight will be introduced using a B787-8.