► GABON: Lufthansa to drop Frankfurt - Pointe Noire via Libreville from late December.

German carrier, Lufthansa (LH), will from December 23, 2013 cancel  its existing 5x weekly Frankfurt to Pointe Noire (Republic of Congo) via Libreville (Gabon). The flights operate on board a PrivatAir (PT) Boeing 737-800 aircraft. 

■ ANGOLA: Government to spend EUR1.6billion on aviation infrastructure by 2016.

The Angolan government, by 2016, will have invested EUR1.6billion into the construction and rehabilitation of thirty domestic airports, including sixteen new ones, Manuel Ferreira de Ceita, the CEO of Angola's airport and air traffic authority (Empresa Nacional de Aeroportos e Navegação Aérea - ENANA), has said.

■ ALGERIA: Austria, Algeria to renegotiate BASA in push to establish direct flights.

Algeria and Austria are set to commence negotiations over a proposed revision of their Bilateral Air Services Agreement signed in 1991, Austria's Ambassador to Algeria, Ms AloisiaWorgetter, announced on Sunday September 29. According to her, the direct air link will facilitate both increased travel and business between the two countries through the estbalishment of direct flights. At present, there are none.

■ MOROCCO: Bombardier proceeds with construction of its first African manufacturing facility in Nouaceur.

Canadian aircraft & train manufacturer, Bombardier Aerospace, has held a symbolic ground-breaking ceremony on the site of its future manufacturing facility situated in the now-open Midparc Casablanca Free Zone, in Nouaceur, Morocco. The occasion was attended by King Mohammed VI of Morocco, various Bombardier suits as well as Moroccan and Canadian dignitaries.

■ NIGERIA: NCAA releases list of all 26 carriers licenced to operate in Nigeria in bid to curb illegal operators.

As part of efforts to clamp down on illegal charter airline operations in the country, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has released a list of licensed scheduled commercial and charter airlines on its registry with only 26 operators having so far been cleared for operations.

► KENYA: Astral Aviation outlines B747-400F plans; to codeshare with Emirates SkyCargo on Joburg - Nairobi flights.

Nairobi-based cargo operator, Astral Aviation (8V), and ANA Aviation Services have announced a new strategic partnership in Africa following the delivery of a B747-400F (MSN 29261 | N408MC), on wet-lease from ACMI specialists, Atlas Air (5Y), on September 27.

■ MALAWI: Ethiopian's CFO Kassim Geressu appointed boss of Malawi Airlines.

Mr. Kassim Geressu, the Chief Financial Officer of Ethiopian Airlines (ET), has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of the carrier's nascent Malawian venture, Malawi Airlines. Mr Geresu's appointment was confirmed by Tewolde Gebremariam in a press conference held in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, yesterday afternoon.

► CHINA: TAAG increases Luanda - Beijing frequencies to 2x weekly; a 3rd due in 2014.

Angolan flag carrier TAAG Linhas Aéreas de Angola (DT) has at long last added a second weekly frequency to its Luanda - Beijing, China route. The added Friday flight became effective September 21 and will be followed by an additional third frequency next year.

■ RWANDA: AviAssist Foundation holds annual Airport Rescue & Firefighting ARFF course in Kigali.

The AviAssist Foundation, an independent, non-profit organization that provides safety support  to African countries and companies and aims to inspire and promote professionalism in African  aviation safety, has announced the successful conclusion of a week-long annual Airport Rescue & Fire Fighting ARFF training course in the Rwandan capital, Kigali.

► CHAD: Toumaï Air Tchad resumes limited operations with Hajj charters.

Toumaï Air Tchad (9D) has resumed limited operations using its ex-Georgian Star International (GST) B737-300 (MSN 24717 | TT-EAZ) for Hajj charter flights from N'Djamena to Madinah, Saudi Arabia. 

► SOUTH AFRICA: Airlink resumes Skukuza ops from June 2014; rebuffs SA Express' recent route launch announcement.

South Africa's Airlink (4Z) has delayed the launch of flights to Skukuza from the previously announced March, to June 2, 2014. According to the carrier, it will commence direct daily flights between Johannesburg and Skukuza as well as Cape Town and Skukuza from Monday 2 June 2014 using an Embraer 135.

■ TANZANIA: fastjet posts $24.9million loss for 1H 2013; turns to Zambia, Malawi for next route roll out.

fastjet (FN) has announced a USD24.9million EBIT loss for the first half of its 2013 Financial Year ended 30 June 2013. In its statement, the company said that its Tanzanian LCC is now profitable "on an underlying route level basis", though it did post operational losses of USD9.1million and USD4.2million in 1Q and 2Q of this year respectively.

■ EGYPT: Egyptair's revenue has risen 60% on last year's numbers, Cairo Aerocity to get underway soon: Fadel

Egyptair (MS) generated EGP20.7billion (USD3billion) in revenue for its latest 2012/2013 Financial Year, a rise of 63% on that recorded for 2011/2012, Egyptian Minister of Civil Aviation, Abdel Aziz Fadel, has announced. Speaking in Cairo outlining the current state of Egypt's civil aviation industry, Mr Fadel did however concede that, despite the rise in revenue, the airline was still struggling to turn a profit as it is saddled with EGP11.5billion (USD1.7billion) in debt.

■ SOUTH AFRICA: LCC Skywise battles on with AOC Certification process.

South African startup, Skywise (SWZ), will likely miss a deferred October launch date after the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) revealed that, to date, the airline had completed 3 of the 5 steps necessary to obtain its Air Operators Certificate.

► NAMIBIA: (Video) Air Namibia takes delivery of first of two A330s from Airbus.

Air Namibia (SW), the Windhoek based national airline of Namibia, has taken delivery of its first A330-200 (MCN 1451 | V5-ANO) from Airbus at a ceremony in Toulouse, France. The aircraft is the first of two A330s being leased by Air Namibia from US lessor, Intrepid Aviation, on 12-year contracts.

■ NIGERIA: New law banning wet-leases for longer than 6 months comes into effect from October 1.

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority's (NCAA) decree that no Nigerian carrier, whether scheduled or charter, will be able to wet-lease foreign aircraft for the purposes of commercial operations for periods longer than six months is set to come into effect from October 1.

► BOTSWANA: Kalahari Airways eyes flights to New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong via its Gaborone hub.

Denis Coghlan, the chief executive officer of the ambitious Botswana-based startup, Kalahari Airways, has outlined his longterm vision for the company in which he sees the establishment of Gaborone as a regional hub for flights to Hong Kong and the United States in addition to London.

■ SINGAPORE: Singapore signs Open Skies treaties with Tanzania, Sierra Leone.

Singapore has  announced the signing of Open Skies Treaties with Sierra Leone and Tanzania respectively on the sidelines of the ongoing 38th session of the General Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) being held in the Canadian city of Montreal from 24 September to 30 September.

► KENYA: Kenya Airways' LCC, Jambo Jet, to launch in 1Q 2014 - Naikuni.

Dr Titus Naikuni, the Managing Director of Kenya Airways (KQ), has announced that his airline's Low Cost subsidiary, Jambo Jet, will be operational during the first quarter of 2014. The news comes after Willem Hondius, a former executive with Dutch LCC Transavia, was recently appointed CEO of the startup.

► SOUTH AFRICA: SA Express rolls out Cape Town - George, Joburg - Pietermaritzburg, Kruger/Mpumalanga from November.

SA Express (XZ) is set to commence three new domestic South African flights with effect from November 1: Cape Town - George, Johannesburg (ORTIA) - Kruger/Mpumalanga and Johannesburg (ORTIA) - Pietermaritzburg. With the exception of the Pietermaritzburg flights which operate onboard a Q400, both other routes are operated with a Bombardier CRJ200.