► CONGO (KINSHASA): (Pic) CAA set to add a sixth Airbus A320 to its fleet.

CAA - Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation (FPY), the Kinshasa-based Congolese domestic operator, is set to take delivery of its sixth Airbus A320 (MCN 395 | 9Q-?).

► SAUDI ARABIA: Air Cairo to start Alexandria & Assuit - Riyadh from late March.

After the successful 1 March launch of twice weekly Alexandria - Tripoli and once weekly Assuit - Tripoli flights, Egyptian LCC, Air Cairo (SM) has now announced the launch of direct flights from Alexandria and Assuit to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, effective 25 March 2013. 

► GAMBIA: Aeolus Air set to take delivery of A320; to start weekly Dakar ops from April.

Banjul based ACMI outfit, Aeolus Air (AAZ) is to offer a weekly scheduled Let 410 service between Banjul and the Senegalese capital, Dakar effective 7 April.

► TANZANIA: fastjet to start daily Kilimanjaro - Mwanza & Zanzibar ops from mid March.

Tanzanian LCC Fastjet (FN), is to expand its network with the announcement today of the launch of daily Kilimanjaro - Mwanza and daily Kilimanjaro - Zanzibar flights effective 18 March. Both flights will operate with an Airbus A320.

► SAUDI ARABIA: Nile Air to start Alexandria - Gassim from late May.

Egyptian airline Nile Air (NP) will from 26 May 2103, expand its international operations with the launch of 3x weekly Alexandria/Borg el Arab - Gassim, Saudi Arabia flights.

► SUDAN: Sun Air wet-leasing A320 from Jordan Aviation.

Sudan's Sun Air (S9) has taken delivery of its first Airbus A320 (MSN 2061 | JY-JAT) wet leased from Jordanian ACMI outfit Jordan Aviation (R5) writes aviation newswire CH-Aviation.

► LIBYA: Air Cairo to launch Alexandria, Assuit to Tripoli from March.

Egyptian LCC, Air Cairo (SM) has announced the launch of new services between Egypt and Libya effective 1 March 2013. Alexandria - Tripoli will launch with two weekly flights, while Assuit - Tripoli will launch with a 1x weekly flight.

► YEMEN: Nasair Eritrea has launched 2x weekly Asmara - Aden flights.

Eritrea's Nasair (UE) launched twice weekly flights from Asmara to the city of Aden in Yemen using an Airbus A320 on 2 February reports out of Yemen state.

► KUWAIT: Nile Air starts flights between Alexandria and Kuwait City.

Egyptian airline Nile Air (NP) has launched a new route between Alexandria and Kuwait City effective 14 February, according to Kuwait's General Directorate of Civil Aviation. The Head of the Flight Scheduling department at the Kuwaiti Aviation Authority, Emad Al-Sabti, said that Nile Air would start operating the new route twice-a-week.

► SOUTH AFRICA: See Pic of Air Zimbabwe's Airbus A320 in Johannesburg for maintenance checks.

One of Air Zimbabwe's two Airbus A320s (Z-WPM) has been spotted at Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport undergoing pre-entry-into-service checks. The aircraft is sporting a half finished livery (to put it mildly).

► EQUATORIAL GUINEA: (Pic) Cronos Airlines set to receive its first Airbus A320.

Equato-Guinean carrier Cronos Airlines (C8) is set to take delivery of its first Airbus A320 (MSN 533 | YL-LCL) wet leased from Latvia ad-hoc charter specialists, smartLynx Airlines (6Y).

► SOUTH AFRICA: SAA seeks to alter Airbus A320 deal to lease, not buy.

South Africa's loss making parastatal, South African Airways (SA), is to renegotiate its deal with Airbus Industrie SAS signed 11 years ago for 20 Airbus A320s. The cash strapped national carrier is said to be looking to lease the aircraft, as opposed to buying them, thereby allowing SAA to recuperate pre-delivery payments it made to purchase the aircraft, bringing in some much needed liquidity into the struggling airline.

► SUDAN: Etihad bucks trend, boosts Khartoum flights to daily.

UAE carrier Etihad Airways (EY) has increased its service from Abu Dhabi to the Sudanese capital, Khartoum with the addition of two extra weekly flights bringing the frequency up from five flights per week to daily. Etihad operates a two-class cabin A320-200 to Khartoum, configured to carry 136 passengers, with 16 in business class and 120 in economy class.

► TUNISIA: (Pics) Tunisair takes delivery of its fourth Airbus A320 at Tunis Carthage International.

Tunisian carrier, Tunisair (TU), yesterday took delivery of its fourth Airbus A320-214 (MSN 5474 | TS-IMU) christened "Sousse". The aircraft was welcomed at a ceremony held by the airline at Tunis Carthage International Airport.

► SAUDI ARABIA: Tunisair to tentatively start Tunis - Madinah from late March.

Tunisian national carrier, Tunisair (TU), will from 31MAR13 commence scheduled operations between Tunis and Madinah (Medina), Saudi Arabia with a 5x weekly Airbus A320 service.

► TUNISIA: Tunisair A320 suffers nose gear collapse after landing at Carthage International ; no casualties.

A Tunisair (TU) Airbus A320 (MSN 119 | TS-IMB) operating as flight TU712 from Casablanca to Tunis, yesterday suffered a runway excursion after landing at Tunis - Carthage International Airport's runway 09. 

► LIBYA: See Pics of Afriqiyah's first A320 painted in the new livery!

In a ceremony held in Sebha, Libyan carrier Afriqiyah (8U) has taken delivery of its sixth and first A320 (MSN 5448 | 5N-ONO) painted in the airlines new "dove" livery.

► EGYPT: AlMasria Universal Airlines calls in AFI KLM E&M for tricky CFM56 repair job.

AlMasria Universal Airlines (UJ) has called on the services of Air France Industries/KLM Engineering & Maintenance to deal with an AOG (Aircraft on Ground) situation concerning CFM56-5B engines fitted to one of the aircraft operated by the Egyptian carrier.

► NIGERIA: Air Zimbabwe to start Lagos & Accra in March?

Air Zimbabwe (UM) is to start flights from Harare to Lagos, Nigeria and Accra, Ghana with the first flights due in March 2013 reports out of Zimbabwe state.

► TUNISIA: Syphax to sign deal with Airbus for 10 A320s; with Safran for CFM engines.

Tunisian carrier Syphax Airlines (FS) is to seal a deal with Airbus for 10 Airbus A320s in addition to another deal with Safran S.A. the French multinational aircraft & rocket engine, aerospace component and security company.