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SAA A330-200 South African Airways (SA, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) is expected to reduce flights ahead of a recapitalisation later this year, reports Moneyweb. The business news site claims to have seen internal planning schedules showing that 175x weekly flights will be cut starting in October. The cut destinations include Brazzaville and Pointe Noire (Republic of the Congo), and Libreville (Gabon), while flights from Johannesburg O.R. Tambo to Durban King Shaka, Cape Town and East London could be reduced. A report by Netwerk24 – which was vehemently criticised, but not denied, by South African Airways spokesman Tlali Tlali – suggested that other cut destinations could be: Blantyre and Lilongwe in Malawi, Kinshasa N'Djili in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Kigali in Rwanda. Netwerk24 also claimed that East London and Port Elizabeth routes will be served by South African Airlink (4Z, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) instead. South African Airways did not immediately res...

Air Namibia A319-100 Air Namibia (SW, Windhoek Int'l) has confirmed it will resume scheduled passenger flights to West Africa early next year. In a statement issued on Tuesday, August 22, the carrier said its Windhoek Int'l-Lagos (Nigeria)-Accra (Ghana) return service would operate 4x weekly effective March 25, 2018. It has been granted 5th Freedom traffic rights for the Ghana-Nigeria vv. sectors of the flight which will operate onboard A319-100 equipment. Air Namibia operated the route from 2009 until 2013 when poor load factors forced it to withdraw. At present, the state-owned carrier runs scheduled passenger flights throughout Namibia as well as to South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana regionally. Frankfurt Int'l, Germany, is its only longhaul service. Source:https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/58925-air-namibia-to-resume-west-african-flights-from-late-1q18

Fastjet A319-100 Fastjet (FN, Dar-es-Salaam) is set to add its maiden ERJ-145 equipment in the form of ZS-BBH (msn 145067) on lease from fastjet shareholder, Solenta Aviation (SET, Lanseria). Skyliner Aviation reports the twinjet, which was previously in service for Fastjet Zimbabwe (FN, Harare Int'l), was recently added to the Tanzanian register as 5H-FJF ahead of its delivery in the coming weeks. It is recalled that two ex-Mandarin Airlines (AE, Taichung Ching Chuan Kang) EMB-190s are due for delivery in the coming weeks as well. Tanzanian low-fare airline Fastjet currently operates one A319-100 on regular flights covering Dar-es-Salaam, Mwanza, Mbeya, and Kilimanjaro domestically and Harare Int'l and Lusaka regionally. Flights from Dar es Salaam to Johannesburg O.R. Tambo, South Africa, have been quietly discontinued. Source:https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/58923-fastjet-tanzania-to-add-maiden-erj-145

First Nation Airlines A319-100 First Nation Airways (FRN, Lagos) has reaffirmed plans to resume operating scheduled passenger flights during the last quarter of this year despite its Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) operation specifications being curtailed to that of a charter carrier. Speaking with journalists in Lagos earlier this week, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Director General Muhtar Usman said the regulator had instituted the measure until First Nation had increased its fleet size to at least two operational aircraft. The announcement comes after the airline was fined for committing safety violations. "So, they are no longer into schedule service until they are able to meet the requirement for scheduled service," he said highlighting that the measure was not punitive, but rather corrective. However, in a follow-up statement, airline CEO Rasheed Yusuf said that contrary to recent reports, it was First Nation Airways that had elected to r...

Caverton Helicopter Caverton Helicopters (CJR, Lagos) has won a five-year contract to provide services to Chevron Nigeria, reports news site The Vanguard. Under the terms of the contract, Caverton will provide 24-hour medevac services across all of Chevron's oil exploration and production operations in Nigeria. Chevron currently operates three deep water oil fields off the Niger Delta coast, as well as oil exploration blocks, and a natural gas facility. Caverton Helicopters is a subsidiary of Caverton Offshore Support Group, and calls itself the leading provider of marine, aviation and logistics services to the oil and gas industry in Nigeria. It will service the contract with eleven Bell Helicopter Textron helicopters. "Given CNL's reputation for very high safety and quality standards, it is also safe to say that Caverton's commitment to safety, quality and continuous improvement contributed in no small measure to this successful bid," Olabode Makanju...

RwandAir B737-800 NG RwandAir has announced that effective September 30, 2017, it will commence three weekly operations to Conakry (Guinea), Bamako (Mali) and Dakar (Senegal) from its new hub in Cotonou (Benin). This is in addition to the three destinations, Libreville (Gabon), Brazzaville (Congo), and Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire) that are already served from Cotonou effective 30th August. The new Cotonou hub will be synchronized with the existing operations from Kigali allowing seamless connections to the rest of the RwandAir destinations, which are growing fast on the African continent and beyond. Dakar, Bamako, and Conakry are some of the largest cities in West Africa, and are home to a vast multicultural heritage and rich history with museums and ancient mosques dating back from the time of the great African empires. Some of the attractions include the house of slaves on the island of Gorée in Dakar, the National Museum of Mali, and the Conakry Grand Mosque, which is the large...

Logo of Air Zimbabwe Air Zimbabwe (UM, Harare Int'l) is considering adding smaller turboprops to its fleet as it seeks to open up services to remote tourist hotspots. Zimbabwean Minister for Tourism, Walter Mzembi, told NewsDay the state-owned carrier was looking at 25-seaters to develop services from each of Harare Int'l and Victoria Falls to remote towns such as Masvingo (gateway to Great Zimbabwe), Kariba, and Mutare. Air Zimbabwe's smallest aircraft at present is the Chinese-manufactured MA-60 which seats a total of fifty-two. Until recently, the turboprop was deployed on domestic services connecting Harare to Victoria Falls and Bulawayo. It was also used in resurrecting flights to Kariba, Chiredzi, and Masvingo in 2014 but met with little success given weak demand for the routes. "I am quite privileged to know that there is quite a lot of activities happening in transport to bring smaller aircraft 25-seaters that will then pick people from Victoria Fa...

Air Tanzania Dash 8-400 A Canadian contractor has seized a Dash 8-400, msn 4559, that was due to have been delivered to Air Tanzania (TC, Dar-es-Salaam) last month. The state-owned carrier is expecting three Q400s (of which two have already been delivered) and two CS300s from Bombardier (BBA, Montréal Trudeau) along with one B787-8 from Boeing (BOE, Chicago O'Hare) as part of its fleet renewal plans. All aircraft are procured by the Tanzanian state via its TGF - Tanzanian Government Flight leasing vehicle. According to The Citizen newspaper, Tanzanian Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) for Singida East, Tundu Lissu, told a press conference last week that Stirling Civil Engineering secured the seizure order as part of a 2010 International Court of Arbitration verdict in its favour. Lissu said the case came after the Tanzanian government reneged on a USD25 million contract to build the Wazo Hill-Bagamoyo Road. When it refused to pay compensation, Stirling Civil Engineer...

illustration of Airworks Kenya Dash 8-200/Q200 Airworks Kenya (AKS, Nairobi Wilson) has acquired a maiden Dash 8-200/Q200 in the form of N447YV (msn 447) deal facilitator Airstream International Group has announced. Formerly in service with LC Perú (W4, Lima Int'l), the turboprop joins the rest of the Kenyan charter specialists fleet of five Cessna (single turboprop) Grand Caravan 208Bs. Founded in 1999, it currently specializes in passenger charter services for international aid agencies active across East and Central Africa. Source: https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/58583-airworks-kenya-adds-maiden-q200

Illustration of Vule Airways DHC 8-400 Vule Airways (Entebbe/Kampala) is a nascent Ugandan budget carrier looking to start operating in the domestic, regional, and international scheduled passenger markets later this year. According to a presentation posted last week, Vule Airways is controlled by international investors (45%) with local Ugandans including promoters holding the remaining 55%. Operationally, Vule Airways plans to launch with six aircraft serving twenty destinations across Africa, Europe, and Asia. It plans to use one Dash 8-200 to cover domestic Ugandan flights as well as thinner regional services to Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya, and Somalia. A single Dash 8-400 will be employed for denser regional services as well as those extending to Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, and Botswana while a trio of B737-700s will be used to serve South Africa, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Nigeria, Angola, India, Israel, Namibia, and Russia. Lastly, a single B777-200(ER) will ...

SAA A330-200 Just one month after giving South African Airways (SA, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) a ZAR2.2 billion (USD166.5 million) loan, the South African Treasury is now contemplating a ZAR13 billion (USD972 million) bailout to keep the airline solvent, reports Reuters. Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba told Talk Radio 702 that a final decision would be announced in October. The embattled national carrier needs the cash injection to service its debts and maintain operations. Despite not generating sufficient cash to cover its costs, the airline told a parliamentary committee that it would be able to turn a profit by 2019, once its debts are settled. At the same time, the government has said that a recovery plan must be "aggressively" pursued. However, an opposition finance spokesperson, Alf Lees, has said the airline should file for bankruptcy. In related news, the airline has finally appointed a new CEO with Vuyani Jarana, replacing a string of acting CEOs who have be...

Air Namibia A319-100 Air Namibia (SW, Windhoek Int'l) is facing eviction at its home base because of outstanding debts, reports news site The Namibian. The airline owes NAD200 million (USD15 million) to the Namibia Airports Company (NAC) for ground handling, rent, aircraft maintenance and aeronautical services. NAC operates eight airports across Namibia, seven of which the airline operates from. It could could be banned from using these if a settlement is not reached. An earlier loan repayment plan, negotiated in January 2017, has not been adhered to. Part of the NAD200 million Air Namibia owes is from airport taxes collected from passengers through ticket sales. So far, the carrier has failed to pass this tax on to the NAC. "The debt has resulted in significant challenges in the ability of the NAC to deliver on its statutory mandate, and has caused an exceedingly challenging cash flow situation," said NAC chairperson Rodgers Kauta. Responding to the report,...

Solenta Aviation Beech 1900D fastjet's Chief Commercial Officer Sylvain Bosc has confirmed the African low-fare airline is now considering adding turboprops to its various units' fleet make-ups. At present, Fastjet (Tanzania) and Fastjet Zimbabwe operate a combination of Airbus and Embraer jet aircraft. The Tanzanian unit currently employs a single A319-100 for use on flights connecting Dar-es-Salaam, Kilimanjaro, Mbeya, and Mwanza domestically as well as Harare Int'l, Lusaka, and Johannesburg O.R. Tambo regionally. A pair of Mandarin Airlines EMB-190s on lease from GECAS is due in the next month or so. For its part, the Zimbabwean operation wet-leases two ERJ-145s from fastjet equity partner Solenta Aviation on flights covering Harare Int'l and Victoria Falls locally and Johannesburg O.R. Tambo regionally. However, speaking to Aviadev's Jon Howell, Bosc said the turboprop could be used to develop untapped domestic services in Tanzania, Zimbabwe and elsewh...

Airlink Embraer 190-100 Airlink (South Africa) (4Z, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) has announced it will use its incoming fleet of EMB-190s to serve Pietermaritzburg and Bulawayo (Zimbabwe) initially. Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows commercial operations with the type began on August 3 with ZS-YAA (msn 19000193). In a statement, the carrier said the Embraers would gradually assume more routes currently operated by its outgoing fleet of twelve ARJ-85s. As previously announced, the aircraft will also be used on the new Johannesburg O.R. Tambo-Windhoek Int'l-St. Helena route from October 21 onwards. "The addition of the E-Jet will enable Airlink to operate within the challenging environment of the region while managing capacity and providing for further growth," it said. The South African domestic and regional specialist is renewing its fleet with eight EMB-190s and three EMB-170s. It is also adding a total of thirty ERJs - ERJ-135s, 140s, and 145s - to its fleet by yea...