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AirLink (South Africa) Embraer 190-100 The government of St Helena, a British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic Ocean, has announced Airlink (South Africa) (4Z, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) has been declared the preferred bidder for the provision of a scheduled commercial air service to St. Helena Airport. The Request For Proposals (RFP) was issued late last year after an initial contract awarded to British Airways franchisee, Comair (South Africa), failed to gain traction owing to windshear conditions experienced during approach into the airport's Runway 20. As such, this second RFP was aimed primarily at using Runway 02 (the southern approach to the runway). In its statement issued on Friday, June 9, the St Helena government said it will now enter into a period of contractual negotiations with Airlink. It did not specify the criteria used to adjudicate Airlink's suitability for the contract. "It is anticipated that a formal announcement will be made in the...

KQ B787 aka Dreamliner Kenya Airways (KQ, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta) is to secure some debt relief, with the Kenyan government agreeing to a debt-to-equity swap as part of a capital restructure plan. The airline announced that the Cabinet has approved the measure, and it will now go before the National Assembly. In supporting the measure, Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich said that Kenya Airways is a valuable national strategic asset. "As a major shareholder, we are keen to secure the airline's future and ensure it has a healthy liquidity profile and remains operational," said Rotich. "The proposed restructuring of the airline will generate concessions from all stakeholders and the re-capitalisation of the business." The support package will include conversion of government loans into equity and the provision of guarantees to the airline's lessors of up to KES77 billion (USD745.4 million), Bloomberg reports. The swap may mean the state will i...