► ZIMBABWE: Boardroom chaos delays Air Zimbabwe's relaunch.

Following on from our previous post on the subject in September, Zimbabwean parastatal and national carrier, Air Zimbabwe (UM)'s plans to resume regional and international flights, have been scuppered due to "boardroom squabbles", reports the government mouthpiece, the ZBC (Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation).

► GAMBIA: Cosmo Airlines to give Gambia Bird, Vueling competition on Barcelona route.

An Airbus A320 (MSN 528 | LY-COM) belonging to Spanish charter airline Cosmo Airlines, on Saturday night, landed in Banjul from Barcelona, Spain, signaling its resumption of service to the Gambian capital, suspended several years ago.

► ZAMBIA: Emirates A330 suffers port engine failure after takeoff from Lusaka, returns safely.

On Sunday 21 October, an Emirates (EK) Airbus A330-200 (MCN 525 |A6-EAP) plying the Lusaka - Dubai route as flight EK714, suffered an uncontained port engine failure, 30 minutes into its flight. The crew promptly shut down the engine and opted to return to Lusaka for a safe landing, contrary to early sensational news reports out of Zambia which claimed "the plane had a tyre burst and slipped into the bush, receiving considerable damage."

■ SUDAN: "Restructuring of Civil Aviation Authority to improve air safety": Abdulaziz

After two disastrous crashes in three months and a perilous aviation safety record, the Sudanese government has announced the restructuring of the country's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in which the regulatory body and the operational body are kept separate from each other, in line with ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) recommendations.

► EGYPT: Midwest set to start scheduled domestic flights in early 2013 with Libya, Saudi Arabia to follow.

Egyptian charter airline Midwest Airlines (MY) is to venture into the domestic Egyptian scheduled flight market with the launch of flights between Cairo and Alexandria effective early January 2013.

► RWANDA: See Pics of RwandAir's first CRJ-900NG arriving in Kigali!

Rwandan national carrier Rwandair (WB) has officially received its first of two Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) 900NGs (MSN# 15286 | 9XR-WH) following a hand-over ceremony in Montreal, Canada and a delivery flight routed Montréal - Goose Bay - Reykjavík - Ancona - Aswan - Kigali.

► ZIMBABWE: FlyKumba's management venture into the helicopter business.

Lloyd Muchaka and South African based Zimbabwean investor, Patrick Chapwanya, the co-founders of the now defunct Zimbabwean LCC, FlyKumba (FKZ), have been granted a licence by the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe for their helicopter company, Chikopokopo Helicopters, set to operate out of Victoria Falls.

► FRANCE: Tunisia's Syphax Airlines boosts Paris CDG to daily from late October.

Tunisian carrier, Syphax Airlines (FS), will from 28 October 2012, launch daily A319-operated flights between the Tunisian capital, Tunis, and Paris CDG, four months after the route was originally meant to have gone daily.

■ TANZANIA: FastJet awards tenders to Sabena Tech, Swissport and head hunts three UK execs for top posts.

Belgian MRO specialists Sabena Technics, have been awarded a 5 year contract by nascent Dar es Salaam based LCC, FastJet, to provide its fleet with engineering services and comprehensive material support for components, standard and cabin parts, and consumables. 

■ ZAMBIA: Ambitious aviation infrastructure projects to pave the way for Zambia Airways 2.0?

According to reports in the Zambian press, the Government there is said to be considering various business models, necessary in setting up a rejuvenated national airline, almost 20 years after the liquidation of national carrier, Zambia Airways (QZ).

► CONGO (KINSHASA): Korongo adds Mbuji-Mayi from late October.

As previously reported by The African Aviation Tribune, Congolese carrier Korongo Airlines (ZC), have announced plans for twice weekly flights between Lubumbashi and Mbuji-Mayi (Eastern Kasai) and Kinshasa and Mbuji-Mayi respectively, effective 31 October 2012.

► BOTSWANA: Bluesky Airways launches charter ops; new website (at last).

Botswana's BlueSky Airways, on 14 October, flew its first commercial charter flight while today it finally launched its website - http://www.blueskyairways.co.bw - albeit 4 months after its original launch date of 9 July.

► SOUTH AFRICA: Fly Go-Air to finally start ops in November?

Fly Go-Air, the off and on again, niche carrier aimed at the premium market in South Africa, has announced it will launch operations in late November from its hub at Johannesburg's Lanseria Airport to Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport with plans to start Polokwane and Pietermaritzburg in January. In the near future, the airline is also considering flights to Bloemfontein and George and from KMIA to Cape Town.

► BURUNDI: China Southern to operate military charters to Monrovia, Bujumbura, Juba, Nairobi in November.

Guangzhou based carrier, China Southern (CZ), will operate three military charter flights to Monrovia (Liberia), Bujumbura (Burundi), Juba (South Sudan) and Nairobi (Kenya) this November on behalf of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, under the auspices of the United Nations.

■ MADAGASCAR: Government courts Corsair International to resume Paris to Nosy-Be flights.

With Air Madagascar's (MD) Airbus A340-300s too big for Nosy-Be's (Fascene) Airport, the Malagasy Government is attempting to lure French carrier Corsair International (SS) back to Madagascar's largest and busiest tourist resort, as they are the only carrier with the equipment (Airbus A330s) capable of operating a direct Paris - Nosy Be flight from the airport, at this time. 

► UNITED STATES: Ethiopian swaps Guangzhou and Washington equipment over Christmas period.

Effective 15 December 2012, Ethiopian Airlines (ET) is to switch operational aircraft in service between Addis Ababa and Guangzhou, China and Addis Ababa and Washington DC, USA as traffic demands during the period grow.

► ZIMBABWE: FreshAir to start Vic Falls - Joburg in November, just as 1Time pulls out of Livingstone.

Zimbabwean LCC startup, FreshAir, the 51/49 joint venture between Nu.Com (Pvt) Ltd of Zimbabwe and 1Time Holdings Ltd of South Africa, are set to launch operations on 2 November 2012 with Victoria Falls - Johannesburg (ORTIA), South Africa as their initial route.

 

► GAMBIA: Vueling announces Banjul, Nador, Casablanca, Fez, Tangier from Summer 2013.

Spanish LCC, Vueling (VY), has announced services from Barcelona to Banjul, Gambia and Casablanca, Fez, Nador and Tangier in Morocco effective Summer 2013.

► KENYA: Gulf Air pulls out of Nairobi from November.

Bahrain-based Gulf Air (GF), will, from 13 November 2012, suspend its 3x weekly operations to Nairobi, Kenya due to "commercial reasons". This will now leave Khartoum, Sudan and Addis Ababa as the carrier's only destinations in East Africa following the axing of its Entebbe, Uganda route after just 4 months in service.

■ MOROCCO: Government looks to offload 44% stake in Royal Air Maroc to Gulf carrier.

Following on from our tweet last night, it does indeed appear that Morocco is looking to sell up to 44% of its shareholding in national carrier Royal Air Maroc (AT) to an as yet unknown Gulf airline.