► NIGERIA: SkyBird Air granted AOC, operations set to begin in due course.

Startup, SkyBird Air (KYC), has been awarded its AOC with flights operations expected to begin in due course, the airline's Managing Director, Mr. Sam Ayodele, has said.

► TOGO: Ethiopian Airlines to maintain 5x weekly ops to Lomé in June; daily in July.

Ethiopian Airlines (ET), as a result of the delay of its Addis Ababa – Lome – Rio de Janeiro – Sao Paulo – Lome – Addis Ababa service launch by 4 weeks, will, during the month of June 2013, continue to operate 5 weekly service on Addis Ababa – Lome sector. Boeing 737-700 aircraft operates this route.

■ TANZANIA: Precision Air claims Zanzibar flights unaffected by taxman woes.

Precision Air (PW), has moved to refute claims published in Tanzanian paper, The Daily News, claiming the Zanzibar Revenue Board had restricted the carrier's flights to the island of Zanzibar as well as closing the company's offices over unpaid taxes.

■ SOUTH AFRICA: SACAA threatens action against operator of chartered Jet Airways A330 that landed at military airbase.

The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) is considering taking action against "the operator" of a Jet Airways (9W) Airbus A330, recently chartered by South African businessman, Atul Gupta on the occasion of a family wedding, for violation of the country's Civil Aviation Regulations. The furore reportedly comes after the civilian Airbus was spotted at Pretoria's Watekloof Air Force Base, a military installation, but which has subsequently been transferred to OR Tambo International on the orders of the Ministry of Defence.

■ KENYA: Air Mauritius selects Direct Maintenance for its Nairobi line maintenance agent.

Mauritian national carrier, Air Mauritius (MK), has selected Direct Maintenance to provide line maintenance to its Airbus A319s on stopover in Nairobi, the Dutch-based outfit has announced. 

■ ANGOLA: Zimbabwe, Angola renew BASA; TAAG to get rights between Lusaka and Harare?

Following negotiations between the two countries, Angola and Zimbabwe have signed a Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) which is a revision of that signed in 2005. Under the agreement, TAAG Linhas Aéreas de Angola (DT), the Angolan national carrier and the only airline currently operating flights between Luanda and Harare, will have provision for 4 weekly frequencies and vice versa.

► 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.