► ZIMBABWE: See Pics of Air Zimbabwe's first A320 fully painted in new colours.

Air Zimbabwe (UM) has taken re-delivery of its Airbus A320-200 (MCN 630 | Z-WPM) following recent pre-entry-into-service checks carried out at Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport.

►► ETHIOPIA: Ethiopian expecting "pleasant surprise" from Boeing in Addis next week; plans Dubai as first 787 destination from 25 April.

[UPDATE 17 MAY] Believing Boeing will have a "pleasant surprise" in store for the global aviation community next week, Ethiopian Airlines (ET) has tentatively scheduled its Boeing 787-8s to resume operations from April 25 with Dubai lined up as the Dreamliner's first potential destination.

► ZIMBABWE: Emirates considers Harare as a potential hub albeit, only "in future".

Emirates (EK) has considered Harare, Zimbabwe as a site for a potential southern-African hub, the airline's senior vice president for commercial operations Africa,  Jean-Luc Grillet, has said. The Dubai-based megacarrier, however, has yet to confirm any concrete plans to proceed with the setting up of a regional hub.

■ 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.

► ZAMBIA: Air Namibia acquires 5th Freedom rights to Lusaka - Harare vv. sector from May 1.

Air Namibia (SW) is set to enter the ever competitive Lusaka - Harare market through the granting of 5th freedom rights on the route effective May 1. The schedule is as follows:

■ ZIMBABWE: Government to open up airport services sector through proposed unbundling of CAAZ.

Various airport services in Zimbabwe could soon be opened up to other players following reports from Harare that the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe is to be unbundled into two separate entities in line with the country's National Transport Policy.

► ZIMBABWE: LAM Mozambique, Air Namibia announce changes to their Harare operations.

Both LAM - Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique (TM), and Air Namibia (SW) have announced changes to their Maputo -  Beira - Harare and Windhoek - Harare routes effective 31 March. LAM has now added an extra 3rd weekly service to the Zimbabwean capital, while Air Namibia operations will now route its Harare flights onwards to Lusaka, Zambia also effective 31 March. Days 1 and 5 will route Windhoek - Lusaka - Harare - Windhoek while Days 3 and 7 will route Windhoek - Harare - Lusaka - Windhoek.

►► BOTSWANA: Air Botswana officially announce new destinations; new timetables loaded.

[UPDATE 03 APRIL 2013]  Following on from our previous post on the topic, Air Botswana (BP) have announced their new updated timetable with new destinations including Johannesburg (Lanseria), Cape Town,  Nairobi (Kenya), Lilongwe, Blantyre (Malawi) and Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) as new destinations from the Batswana carrier's hub, Gaborone. Lusaka, Zambia will also see a third extra Wednesday frequency served in tandem to Lilongwe, Malawi which will receive a twice weekly service (one direct and the other via Lusaka.)

►► ZIMBABWE: KLM to restart Harare service from 29 October.

[UPDATE 14 MARCH] After a 10 year hiatus from the Zimbabwean capital Harare, KLM Dutch Airlines (KL) has announced the resumption of its Amsterdam - Harare service, albeit with a stopover in Lusaka.

► ETHIOPIA: Ethiopian Airlines extends 787 cancellations until late April.

AirlineRoute reports that, as per the 08MAR13 GDS timetable and inventory display, Ethiopian Airlines (ET) is to extend its Boeing 787 service cancellations until 30APR13 inclusive. Due to aircraft redeployment, a number of routes will also see aircraft changes, scheduled to be in effect until mid-June 2013.

► ZIMBABWE: A sneak peek at Air Zimbabwe's planned N. Summer 2013 Route Network.

Following on from our previous bulletin yesterday, Air Zimbabwe's (UM) planned route expansion and fleet utilization plans have been unveiled. AirlineRoute writes that as per the 06MAR13 GDS timetable and inventory display, as well as OAG Schedules iNet, Air Zimbabwe’s planned Northern Summer 2013 operation are as follows, effective 31MAR13. Amongst the routes being introduced are Bulawayo - Victoria Falls, and tentatively Harare - Lagos - Accra - Harare and Harare - London Gatwick. No mention has been made of the Embraer ERJ135s.

► CONGO (BRAZZAVILLE): Launch of Air CEMAC delayed once more; this time until late 2013.

As prognosticated by The African Aviation Tribune in November 2012, Air CEMAC, the planned regional carrier to link Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Congo (Brazzaville), Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Chad and São Tomé & Príncipe, has indeed been forced to delay its intended January 2013 launch date, this time, to November/December 2013.

► ZIMBABWE: China Sonangol denies its A320 being used for diamond smuggling.

China Sonangol, the joint venture between the Hong Kong based China International Fund (or the 88 Queensway group) and Angola's state-owned oil company Sonangol, has denied a report by whistle-blower site, 100Reporters, alleging that its Airbus A319 (MSN 2706 | VP-BEX) was being used to "smuggle" diamonds from Zimbabwe's controversial Marange diamond fields.

■ ZIMBABWE: Former head of Zimbabwean cricket board, Osias Bvute, named new chairman of Air Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwean Transport, Communication and Infrastructural Development Minister, Nicholas Goche, has appointed a new board tasked with turning around bankrupt national carrier, Air Zimbabwe (UM) with the former head of the Zimbabwean cricket board, Osias Bvute, named as Chairman of the board.

■ ZIMBABWE: CAAZ takes first step in establishing own aviation academy.

Controversial Zimbabwean diamond outfit, Mbada Diamonds, has handed over a USD500'000 office block to the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ), of which one of the buildings will be used to help establish an aviation training academy.

► ZAMBIA: Kenya Airways to operate Harare via Livingstone flights from June 'til October.

Kenya Airways (KQ) will launch 3x weekly Nairobi, Kenya to Livingstone Zambia and on to Harare, Zimbabwe flights effective 2 June until 25 October. The route will operate with an Embraer E190 jet.

► RWANDA: RwandAir to start Juba, Zanzibar and Accra "by May"; Harare, Cape Town to follow "later" says Mirenge.

Rwanda's growing national carrier Rwandair (WB) has set its sights on expanding its regional footprint and uplifting more passengers in the hopes of becoming a profitable airline by 2015.

► SOUTH AFRICA: Comair Ltd, SAA, SA Airlink set sights on regional expansion.

South African Airways (SA), its subsidiary SA Airlink (4Z) and competitor Comair Ltd, the British Airways franchise holder in South Africa in addition to owning LCC Kulula, have applied for new frequencies to the Democratic Republic of the Congo amongst other destinations as South African carriers seek to broaden their market bases.

► ZIMBABWE: Ethiopian introduces extra 3x weekly Lusaka, Harare service from mid February.

Effective 27 January 2013, Ethiopian Airlines will adjust its Zimbabwe and Zambia operations with 3 out of its 7 weekly Addis Ababa – Harare – Lusaka – Addis Ababa flights to operate as Addis Ababa – Lusaka – Harare – Addis Ababa. Then, effective 18 February, an additional 3x weekly red eye flight operated with a Boeing 737-700 will be introduced bringing the overall frequency to 10.

► 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.