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Air Botswana ATR 42-500 Botswana-based ecotourism operator Wilderness Safaris has confirmed it has submitted a proposal to the country's government concerning the privatization of national carrier Air Botswana (BP, Gaborone). The firm said in its FY2016/17 annual results filing to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange this week that despite its application, "there has been no further progress in the matter." Wilderness Safaris operates camps and mobile safaris across Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, the Seychelles, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Air Botswana is one of several loss-making state-owned enterprises Ian Khama's government shortlisted for privatization in February this year. It is hoped that the introduction of a suitable strategic partner will turn the airline's fortunes around following years of annual losses. Other firms known to have submitted Expressions of Interest (EOI) in the airline include Germany's InAvia Aviation Consultants GmbH, S...

Ethiopian B737-800 Mr. Busera Awel, Ethiopian Airlines Chief Commercial Officer announced Ethiopian Airlines will add a sixth weekly flight to Seychelles as of December 6, 2017 “Air transport is a vital component of the tourist appeal and the driving factor for economic growth in general. We have been serving our continent for seven decades, offering convenient connectivity options to more than 54 African cities. “Seychelles being Africa’s premier tourist destination, with the natural attractions of the archipelagos, we have now added a sixth weekly service to provide more options for passengers flying from any part of the world to Seychelles and vice versa through our strategic hub at Addis Ababa.  As per our growth strategy, vision 2025, we shall continue to increase our presence in Africa, so as to better promote and facilitate growth in the business and tourism sectors.” Ethiopian also offers special fares for tour packages to the major African tourist destin...

EgyptAir Maintenance and Engineering Hangar EgyptAir Maintenance and Engineering has opened up to the African and Asian markets within aircraft maintenance and overhaul. It has contracted with Zimbabwe's national carrier; Air Zimbabwe, to carry out heavy maintenance tasks for one of its Boeing B737-800 aircraft. Another Asian customer is Kam Air, an Afghani carrier, where the Egyptian service provider provides overhaul for its Airbus A340. Abou Taleb Tawfik, chairman of EgyptAir Maintenance and Engineering said that the company plans to attract more third party customers to increase profit. He added: “The international accreditation are the basis of providing technical service to the third party customers and helps bring more contracts with new customers domestically and internationally and in various domestic and international stations. The company seeks to maintain such accreditations through the on-going inspections of the international bodies to renew the certif...

London Gatwick welcomed the touchdown of the first direct flight between Rwanda and the UK on May 26 with a water arch as the aircraft taxied to the gate at the airport's North Terminal. The arrival of the aircraft was attended by the UK High Commissioner of Rwanda, H.E. Yamina Karitanyi; the Deputy CEO of RwandAir, Yvonne Makolo; and Stephen King, Head of Airline Relations, Gatwick Airport. The route is served by a new Airbus A330-200 offering travellers Business, Premium Economy and Economy Class travel. Yvonne Makolo, Deputy CEO of RwandAir, said: “We are very proud to launch this important direct flight between the UK and Rwanda. British travellers are among the top five nationalities to visit Rwanda and this service will allow even easier access to the many natural wonders and unique experiences available throughout our beautiful country. This new route will also improve already strong trade links between the UK and Rwanda creating new long-lasting business opport...

Azman B737-300 Azman Air has selected Saudi Arabia for its maiden international and intercontinental services, reports ch-aviation. The Nigerian carrier said twice weekly return flights between Kano and Jeddah began on May 12. Operations are on-board Azman Air's fleet of two B737-300s and two B737-500s. Azman Air Services Limited is a Kano, Nigeria, based domestic airline company.Established in 2010 by businessman Abdulmunaf Yunusa Sarina, the airline operates scheduled domestic passenger services with its main base in Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport. Source: http://www.africanaerospace.aero/azman-air-selects-saudi-arabia-for-its-maiden-international-route.html

Air Namibia B737-800 Air Namibia is in talks with Sukhoi Civil Aircraft over the proposed acquisition of three SSJ 100-95s, reports ch-aviation. The Russian manufacturer's senior vice president, Eugene Andrachnikov, told the Interfax news agency his firm was angling for a possible 2018 delivery date. The deal may also include assistance in the areas of aircraft maintenance, pilot training, and infrastructural development, he said. Should the Namibian state-owned carrier commit to an order, it will become the SuperJet's sub-Sahara African launch customer and operator. Source: http://www.africanaerospace.aero/air-namibia-in-talks-to-acquire-superjets.html

Air 26 ERJ135 Angola's civil aviation authority (Instituto Nacional da Aviação Civil - INAVIC) has grounded local operator Air 26 until further notice citing several safety oversight anomalies, reports ch-aviation. Sources familiar with the matter told Angola's Valor Economico newspaper that the regulator had uncovered "procedural irregularities" during an inspection in 2016. The carrier was subsequently ordered to suspend the sale of tickets pending the resolution of INAVIC's concerns. Since then, at least six months have passed with no sign of Air 26 resuming flights."The company continues to be part of the companies authorised to fly, but it has to solve some issues. Operational safety is critical; there can be no negotiations about it," the INAVIC source said. "The sooner the operator corrects the anomalies, the sooner it will fly again."Airline director Luís Arriegas said Air 26 was currently undergoing administrative and operat...

Egypt Air 321 EgyptAir has received the fourth Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft. This forms part of the carrier’s fleet renewal and expansion strategy. The fourth out of nine Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft that EgyptAir plans to acquire in 2017 passed an official registration procedure to finally join the fleet that includes now 24  aircraft of the same type, in addition to other types. "We do have steady goals to achieve regarding EgyptAir fleet and through this order of B737-800 NG, which to be finalised by the delivery of the ninth later this year, with an approximate age of six years," said EgyptAir CEO Safwat Musallam. “During the past period we have received three other aircraft," said Musallam. "We are working on an overall- plan that would enhance our medium-haul fleet, we managed to further develop our network, increase frequencies on the most popular routes, therefore, guarantee that all our passengers reach their destination on time.” Source: http://w...

Air Tanzania Dash 8 Q400 Air Tanzania (TC, Dar-es-Salaam) is supplementing its current all-turboprop fleet of one Dash 8-300 (inactive) and two Dash 8-400s with a CRJ-100. CemAir CRJ100 Skyliner Aviation reports the Tanzanian state-owned carrier is wet-leasing ZS-CMH (msn 7292) from South African ACMI/charter specialist CemAir (5Z, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo). AIr Tanzania is in the process of relaunching its operations following President John Magafuli's decision to revamp the East African state's moribund public institutions last year. At present, Air Tanzania, through state-owned lessor TGF - Tanzanian Government Flight (Dar-es-Salaam), is in line to receive two CS300s and one Dash 8-400 from Bombardier (BBA, Montréal Trudeau) and one "Terrible Teen" B787-8 from Boeing (BOE, Chicago O'Hare). Source: https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/56305-air-tanzania-leasing-a-south-african-crj100

Camair-Co B767-300ER The Cameroon Airlines Corporation (Camair-Co) has announced a 20% cut for flights from and to the three northern regions of the country. The new marketing strategy that will be implemented as from 1st June 2017, targets Maroua, Garoua and Ngaoundere. The announcement was made during a meeting in Ngaoundere on May 22nd 2017. Cameroon-Info.Net reports that the meeting brought together Camair-Co’s management, partners and customers. Ernest Dikoum, general management of Camair-Co, explains that a to-and-fro journey between Yaounde and Ngaoundere could cost FCFA 68, 840. According to the management of the airline, more than 80 weekly flights are regularly being carried out between some six regional capitals, including Yaounde, Douala , Bafoussam, Ngaoundere and Garoua. Going by what Camair-Co says, there are four flights to and from Yaounde and Daouala everyday; ten fights every week from Douala and Yaounde to the three northern regions of the nation. The...

JamboJet Dash 8 Q400 Kenya's Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) has granted Jambojet (JM, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta) an international Air Services Licence (ASL) following an application lodged earlier this year. A Kenyan government gazette issued on Friday, May 26, indicates the Kenya Airways (KQ, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta) budget carrier is eligible to operate scheduled international air services out of Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta to/from each of Entebbe/Kampala (Uganda), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Dar-es-Salaam, Zanzibar, Kilimanjaro, and Mwanza (Tanzania), Kigali (Rwanda), Juba (South Sudan), Bujumbura (Burundi), Hargeisa and Mogadishu (Somalia), Goma and Kisangani (Democratic Republic of Congo), Moroni Int'l (Comoros), and Lilongwe and Blantyre (Malawi), subject to designation by the Kenyan Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing & Urban Development. The ASL, which is valid for one year from May 4, 2017 onwards, is restricted to the use of B737, DHC-8, and ATR72 equipment. ...

Comac C919 The government of the northwest Nigerian state of Kaduna has opened talks with Chinese aircraft manufacturer COMAC (Shanghai Pudong) over the proposed supply of aircraft to Nigerian carriers willing to use Kaduna International Airport as a base. A statement issued to the country's press last week said the unspecified aircraft, once leased, would allow operators, such as Med-View Airline (VL, Kano), to boost their throughput at the Kaduna International Airport. No specific aircraft types were mentioned in the communique but the C919 is seen as the most likely contender for any contract. Given its relatively close proximity to Abuja Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (188 kilometers), Kaduna has been relegated to a small regional facility. At present, it handles scheduled flights to Abuja and Lagos operated by Med-View Airline, Arik Air, Overland Airways, and Azman Air. Source: https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/56288-kaduna-state-govt-seeks-comac-plan...

flyafrica B737-500 Zimbabwe flyafrica (Z7, Harare Int'l) has acquired two B737-700s in anticipation of relaunching commercial flight operations during the next quarter, the Zimbabwean budget carrier's executive chairman Cassidy Mugwagwa has claimed. Speaking to The Daily News, Mugwagwa said the two aircraft were currently undergoing pre-delivery maintenance checks with Lufthansa Technik in Germany ahead of their delivery to Harare Int'l. Having resecured its Air Services Permit (ASP) from the Zimbabwean Ministry of Transport as well as an Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) from the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ), Mugwagwa said flights would start in August. “We are renewing the old routes, when we start to fly we are going to be doing domestic flights in what is called the Zimbabwe Triangle, that is Harare — Victoria Falls — Bulawayo and back the same way daily for a month or so, while our technical people get back into the business of things,...

RwandAir B737-800 RwandAir, the national carrier of the Republic of Rwanda, is expecting the delivery of another brand new state of the art Boeing 737-800 Next Generation (NG) aircraft equipped with in-flight connectivity. The new aircraft will land in Kigali on the 28th of May at 16hrs and will take RwandAir’s young fleet to a total of 12 aircraft. This aircraft delivery is part of the lease agreement signed in December 2015 between RwandAir and Aircraft Lease Corporation, an American based lessor to acquire two additional brand new dual class Boeing 737-800NG; the first was delivered in November last year. “This aircraft will be RwandAir’s fourth of its type. It comes to enable new connections on the continent and beyond, as the airline continues to foster economic exchange between Rwanda and the rest of the world”, said Chance Ndagano, the Chief Executive Officer of RwandAir. The new Wi-Fi connected Boeing 737-800NG is configured in a dual-class cabin comfortably seati...

First Air Mauritius A350 XWB takes shape in Airbus’ Final Assembly Line  The wing-fuselage junction, the installation of the tailplane and also the tailcone have been completed. The aircraft is in the next assembly station for structural completion such as the installation of winglets, ground testing of mechanical, electrical and avionics systems. Next steps will include in particular cabin completion, engine installation, painting and flight tests. This will lead to the delivery scheduled in Q4 2017, of the first A350-900 to Air Mauritius. Air Mauritius will acquire a total of six A350-900 twin engine widebodies comprising four directly purchased from Airbus and two on lease from AerCap. At entry into service, the A350 XWB will be deployed on the carrier’s long-haul, mainly the Mauritius-Paris route. Air Mauritius currently operates a fleet of 13 aircraft of which 10 Airbus aircraft including six A340-300, two A330-200 and two A319 on regional and long haul services. T...

A South African parliamentary committee will consider asking President Jacob Zuma to engage with his counterparts in Angola, Nigeria, Senegal and Zimbabwe concerning South African Airways (SA, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) cash which is trapped in those countries, reports Jacaranda FM. The airline reportedly has about ZAR1 billion (USD77 million) worth of unrepatriated ticket remittances stuck in bank accounts across Africa. It is, however, unable to access the funds given the chronic foreign currency shortages currently affecting multiple African states. "We would like to use diplomacy. If somebody is not paying your money, he is making you his bank," said Deputy Finance Minister Sifiso Buthelezi, addressing the Standing Finance Committee. Approximately USD30 million worth of remittances are stuck in Zimbabwe to airlines serving the country, including Ethiopian Airlines, South African Airways, Kenya Airways, Comair (South Africa) (operating as British Airways), Emirate...

Ethiopian B737-800 The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has criticised Ethiopian Airlines (ET, Addis Ababa) for forcing Nigerian passengers bound for South Africa to pay a 'deportation fee'. General Manager of Public Relations for the NCAA, Sam Adurogboye, said that the authority had cautioned the Ethiopian carrier to stop the collection of a fee of USD75 from passengers before allowing them to board flights from Lagos to Johannesburg O.R. Tambo via Addis Ababa. The fee goes up to USD150 for layovers of greater than 24 hours. It is intended to cover the potential cost of deportation, following reports that the South African government had deported 187 Nigerians this year so far. Adurogboye said the fee was against Nigerian regulations, as it had not been approved. However, a spokesperson for Ethiopian Airlines, Ikechi Uko, has denied that the fee is unauthorised, reports Nigerian news site The Guardian. "They were asked to deposit the mentioned amount...

Badr Airlines B737-300 Badr Airlines (J4, Khartoum) has resumed flights to South Sudan following the signing of a partnership agreement with South Sudanese operator Aloor Airlines (Juba). The Sudan Tribune reports Badr Airlines is slated to operate flights between the South Sudanese towns of Wau and Juba with an onward sector to the North Sudanese capital Khartoum. The first such service took place early last week using B737 equipment. Badr Airlines last served Juba between 2004 and 2011 when the city was still a part of the Republic of Sudan (today North Sudan). The flights ended in 2011 following South Sudan's independence and the subsequent escalation in tensions between the states over the oil-rich Kordofan border region. Badr Airlines also serves Cairo Int'l and Jeddah internationally with domestic destinations listed as Port Sudan, El Obeid, Damazin, El Fasher, Geneina, and Nyala. It currently operates one B737-300 and four B737-500s. Source:https://www.ch-...

Fly 540 CRJ 100 Fly540 (5H, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta) has taken delivery of its maiden Dash 8-300 following the arrival of 5Y-CGH (msn 525). According to Skyliner Aviation, the former InterSky (3L, Friedrichshafen) turboprop was positioned from Maastricht to Kenya via Montpellier, Malta, and Alexandria Borg el Arab this past weekend. The deal was facilitated by Airstream International Group. Fly540 is a Kenyan low-cost carrier operating two CRJ-100s, two CRJ-200s, and one Dash 8-100 on scheduled passenger flights throughout Kenya as well as to Juba (South Sudan), Mogadishu (Somalia), Moroni Int'l (Comoros), and Zanzibar. Source:https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/56228-kenyas-fly540-adds-maiden-q300

Azman Air B737 Azman Air (AZM, Kano) has selected Saudi Arabia for its maiden international and intercontinental services. The Nigerian carrier said in a statement 2x weekly return flights between Kano and Jeddah began on May 12. Operations are onboard Azman Air's fleet of two B737-300s and two B737-500s. Until this development, Azman AIr had focussed exclusively on the Nigerian domestic market connecting Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt Omagwa, Kano, Birmin Kebbi, Gombe, Maiduguri, and Yola. Airline president Abdulmunaf Sarina told Channels TV in an interview earlier this month that Azman Air has already secured approval from the Nigerian Ministry of Aviation to begin regional African operations which will start once two unspecified widebody aircraft have been delivered. Once in-country, the jets will also be used to develop service to Dubai and China. Nigeria's smaller operators have begun to find their respective voices since debt-ridden Arik Air (W3, Lagos) curtailed...

JamboJet Dash 8 Q400 Jambojet (JM, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta) has taken delivery of a new Dash 8-400 with registration 5Y-JXB (msn 4555). The Q400 is the first of two the Kenya Airways low-cost subsidiary is leasing from Ilyushin Finance this year, both of which are sourced directly from the Russian lessor's Bombardier (BBA, Montréal Trudeau) order book. Jambojet specialises in scheduled passenger flights throughout Kenya with services connecting Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta with Eldoret, Kisumu, Lamu, Malindi, Mombasa and Ukunda, and also Malindi with Lamu. The new Q400 will join another of the type already in Jambojet's fleet, 5Y-JXA (msn 4491). Jambojet Limited is a Kenyan low-cost airline that started operations in 2014, its equity consists of 5,000 shares each with a nominal value of KSh 20.  It is a subsidiary of Kenya Airways and is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. Operations commenced on 1 April 2014.The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority authorised the airline to fly to Bu...

Air Peace B737 Air Peace (P4, Lagos) has announced that it will try to resume flights to Nigeria's Delta State using soon-to-be acquired Embraer aircraft. Air Peace Chairman Allen Onyema made the comments in a meeting with the National Association of the Niger-Delta Students. Air Peace was forced to suspend flights to Asaba in 2015 due to the poor condition of the runway. Onyema said that conditions at Warri airport were also not suitable for Air Peace's B737s as the runway was too short. Onyema said that the airline would acquire two Embraer aircraft to serve the airports which could not be served by its B737s. Air Peace has four B737-300s and five B737-500s in its fleet, although all of the -500s are currently out of action. Air Peace rival Arik Air (W3, Lagos) operates out of both Asaba and Warri, offering services to Abuja and Lagos using Dash 8-400 and CRJ-900 metal. Source: https:https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/56058-air-peace-may-resume-flights-to-...

The European Union has updated its Air Safety List, removing all carriers from Benin and Mozambique from operational restrictions. Four individual airlines were added – Med-View Airline (VL, Kano), Mustique Airways (MAW, St. Vincent Argyle Int'l), Air Urga (3N, Kirovohrad) and Air Zimbabwe (UM, Harare Int'l). Med View B737 The removal of Benin and Mozambique from the blacklist are a result of the improvement of aviation safety regulations in the two African nations, an EU statement says. Air Zimbabwe B767 "I am glad that we are able to take all carriers from Benin and Mozambique out of the air safety list. Their reforms have paid off," said Commissioner for Transport, Violeta Bulc. "This is also a signal to the 16 countries that remain on the list. It shows that work and cooperation pays off. The Commission and the European Aviation Safety Agency are ready to assist them and raise the safety standards worldwide." Air URGA MA-60 The addition o...