Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier Aerospace has just concluded its tour in Africa showcasing its successful Q400 turboprop aircraft, having started in West Africa, before coming to East and Southern Africa, in hopes of attracting potential customers. 
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
► RWANDA: Bombardier's Q400 roadshow ends in Kigali.
Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier Aerospace has just concluded its tour in Africa showcasing its successful Q400 turboprop aircraft, having started in West Africa, before coming to East and Southern Africa, in hopes of attracting potential customers. 
► EGYPT & LIBYA: More derelict WW2 aircraft discovered in The Sahara.
Whilst going through the international press this last week, we at The Tribune came across a piece in the UK's Daily Mail that we found rather interesting.
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| The derelict Kittyhawk in the Sahara (Daily Mail) |
During a prospecting mission for oil in the Western Desert (part of the Sahara) Egypt, a oil worker recently came across a derelict Royal Air Force Kittyhawk P-40, that, given its age and location, was in reasonably good condition.
The aircraft itself, flown at the time by Flight Sergeant Dennis Copping, went down in June 1942, during the North African Campaign fought between the legendary "Desert Fox" German General Erwin Rommel and British Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery.
It seems Copping was attempting to make his way home, only to lose his bearings, and ultimately, crash land in what is literally, the middle of nowhere. From what has been seen lying around the crash site, he then took what he could salvage from the damaged fighter, and wandered off into the desert, never to be seen again.
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| The cockpit of the plane (Daily Mail) |
Since the crash site is about 200 miles from the nearest town and no
human remains have been found at the site, its believed that the pilot’s
decomposed body may lay anywhere within a 20 mile radius of the
aircraft (Copping is not known to have any close living relatives).
But this isn't the first time the Sahara has been a repository for abandoned aircraft.
In February 1959, a British Petroleum oil exploration team
discovered the nearly intact "Lady Be Good", a USAF American B-24D Liberator, 448 miles southeast of Soluch, again in the untravelled Western Desert.
Investigation at the crash site confirmed
that the crew had bailed out after exhausting their fuel.after returning from an April 4, 1943 bombing raid on Naples, Italy as part of the 514th Bomb Squadron, 376th Bomb Group. At the time, the plane was assumed to have crashed into the Mediterranean Sea and its nine crew members were classified as Missing in Action.
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| The USAF Bomber "Lady Be Good" found in 1959, Libya |
The Lady Be Good apparently overflew its base and did not see flares fired to attract its attention and continued into the interior of North Africa for two more hours. At 2 a.m., the crew parachuted to the ground and the Lady Be Good continued on for 26 km (16 miles) more with no one aboard and crash-landed in the Calanshio Sand Sea of the Libyan Desert. A search and rescue mission from Soluch Air Base to find the missing bomber was unsuccessful and no trace of the crew or aircraft was found.
After the crew abandoned the aircraft in mid air, it continued flying southward.
The mostly intact wreckage and evidence showing one engine was still
operating at the time of impact suggests the aircraft gradually lost
altitude in a very shallow descent, reached the flat, open desert floor
and landed on its belly.
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| Click to get the book from our Amazon store! |
No human remains were found at the crash site, but in February 1960, the United States Army conducted a formal search for the remains of the airmen, and five were found. Finding evidence that three other crew members had continued walking northward to seek help, the exploration concluded their bodies were likely buried beneath sand dunes.
► ETHIOPIA: See Ethiopian's B767 - now with Winglets!
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| Ethiopian's 767 ET-ALJ at Accra, Ghana (PRM) |
Read More Here [Ethiopian Airlines]"Ato Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO Ethiopian Airlines said, "I would like to congratulate our MRO team for the outstanding performance and for the job well done. From an economics point of view, the winglets will allow the airline to make substantial cost saving, through lower fuel consumption, which is highly critical at a time when the industry as a whole is feeling the brunt of persistent high fuel prices. This fitting will also reduce engine maintenance cost. The winglets will enhance our take-off performance specifically from our high altitude hub and increase our payload including the flight range.""
■ NIGERIA: Phase II of airport renovations to begin in June; Abuja to get new International Terminal.
Nigerian's Aviation Minister Stella Oduah has announced plans by the Nigerian Government to embark on the second phase of a project to renovate and remodel various airports in Nigeria, in order to "upgrade the quality of services being rendered at airports across the country."
The Minister also said that airports involved in the first phase - amongst them Murtala
Muhammed International Airport (Lagos); Nnamdi Azikiwe Intenational
Airport (Abuja); Owerri Airport; Yola Airport and Benin Airport - were to be reinaugurated by the end of May, with Phase 2 to begin on 1st June 2012.
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| Asaba Airport, Nigeria (Ken Iwelumo) |
Oduah also announced that plans had been concluded to build a new international terminal at Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja this year, with the existing international terminal being turned into a domestic terminal, while the old domestic
terminal would now be General Aviation (GAT) and Hajj terminal.
"According to her, the projects are being strictly monitored to ensure that contractors do not deliver substandard jobs.
She said, “We have our quality control group working with the contractors at all times; we want to make sure we don’t play with users’ safety, which is why we are doing total restructuring and remodelling."
The call for enforced transparency follows the attempted arrest on Monday of the Managing Director of the Lagos-based Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), George Uriesi, on suspected allegations of graft by the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Uriesi evaded arrest as he was said to "have left for Abuja on an official duty."
■ SOUTH AFRICA: VelvetSky in liquidation; SAA likely to get USD$750m government cash injection.
South African Airways (SA) says it is optimistic that its request for ZAR6billion (USD$733million) from the South African Government will be granted, thereby allowing it to proceed with its planned fleet renewal as reported previously by The African Aviation Tribune.
Monday, May 14, 2012
■ BOTSWANA: Open Skies deal signed; will Air Botswana survive more competition?
► ZAMBIA: Zambezi Airlines to resume flights next month.
Following numerous court cases and the repossession of its aircraft by lessor GECAS, Lusaka-based, Zambian airline Zambezi Airlines (ZJ), is scheduled to restart services from next month.
► SOUTH AFRICA: SAA boosts Mumbai service from June.
Following Jet Airways' suspension of Mumbai - Johannesburg with effect from 12 June 2012, so South African Airways (SA) has moved to fill the gap by tentatively (i.e. subject to government approval) increasing its frequencies from Johannesburg to Mumbai, from 4x weekly to 5x weekly, using an Airbus A330-200.
● ETHIOPIA: See the renderings for Ethiopian's new HQ and hotel.
With almost 50 aircraft in its fleet and another 43 state-of-the-art jets on order, a much coveted Star Alliance membership, and a profit for 2011 of USD$25million making it one of the few profitable African airlines, Ethiopian Airlines has much to be proud of.
BACKROUND
Based out of Addis Ababa's Bole International Airport, Ethiopian Airlines last year put forth its future plans in a paper entitled "Project 2025" which set out its goals and objectives to make Ethiopian "the most competitive and leading aviation group in Africa by providing safe, market driven and customer focused passenger and Cargo Transport, Aviation Training, Flight Catering, Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO), Ground Services, Domestic and regional services by 2025."
Having surpassed its original goals set out in 2005 in its "Vision 2010", the airline states that its overall target for Vision 2025 is to implement a new restructuring program that will transform Ethiopian Airlines into an aviation investment group.
Vision 2025 objectives & goals summarized:
- Construction of Maintenance Hangar
- Expansion & upgrading of Ethiopian Aviation Academy
- Construction of Simulator building for different fleet type
- Construction of 5 star hotel
- Expansion of Cargo Terminal
- Construction of new Catering facility
- Construction of parking building
- Construction of new Headquarters
Herein we will discuss the two administrative/hospitality projects slated under Vision 2025 - The 5 Star Hotel & The head quarters.
THE HEADQUARTERS DESIGN COMPETITION
In 2009, Ethiopian issued a tender to indigenous Ethiopian companies for the design and supervision of contract for it's new headquarters at Bole Airport. However, the airline was not satisfied with the submissions and only second to fifth place of the design bid were announced on Monday, April 11, 2010, with no actual winner being declared.“Our company is the only one that received a very good result from the airline on the evaluation form,” Samuel Alebel, Technical Assistant of Ultimate Plan Plc, told Fortune.
The bidders were told by the airline to wait until a formal decision was made as to the next step to be taken, according to Samuel.
“We are not satisfied with the designs,” Girma Wake, CEO of Ethiopian, told Fortune, “because most of them do not meet the requirements set by the airline. Most likely, we will go for an international bid. However, it is still under process.”
In theory, the "winner" was the second placed bid Ultimate Plan Plc, then Sileshi Consult Plc, Mulugeta Asfaw Consult, and finally Gereta Consult in fifth place, respectively. Berhanu Mussa Architecture & Engineering had also entered the bid but did not make the top five.
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| UltimatePlan PLC's 2nd place bid. (UltimatePlan) |
A second round tender was announced in September 2011. In February 2012 Ethiopian Airlines finally made its decision settling instead for a design by Ethiopian architectural firm BET Architects Plc, in collaboration with Soehene Partners Architects, an Austrian company.
THE WINNING DESIGN
The winning ‘concept of flows’ led to a fragmented yet interconnected simple-single- forms to be organized like a village allowing the flow of people, air, light, and nature into and out of the building that will be Ethiopian Airlines’ new HQ in a 15,500 meter square total floor area, the designers say.
This proposal is also intended in creating a high class international standard building and a structure that would address the requirement of its growth, active operation and accomplish its Vision-2025. The administrative blocks are in a floating form that resembles mountains and canyons. Similar to the landscape that flows into the building the lobby is also floating and rising. There are gardens in between the blocks which are made up of landscapes with trees and art sculptures. The sun shade of grand lobby around which the office blocks are situated is symbolized with timber trees.
Location: Bole Airport, Addis Ababa
Net Area: 15.000 sqm
Expansion Area: 4.500 sqm
Planned Number of Employees: 1450
Estimated Completion: 2014
Net Area: 15.000 sqm
Expansion Area: 4.500 sqm
Planned Number of Employees: 1450
Estimated Completion: 2014
Estimated Cost: USD$20million
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| The winning bid (SoehnePartner Austria) |
The deal was signed by Yissehak Zewoldi, Vice President of Alliances
& Corporate Strategic Planning with Ethiopian and Tesfamariam
Teshome, Manager, Senior Partner, and Architect at BET Architects plcon May 17 February 2012.
The 4 or 5 Star Hotel
Anyone who has ever had the "pleasure" of missing their Ethiopian connecting in Addis Ababa will know of the Riviera International Hotel in down town Addis - the hotel used by Ethiopian Airlines for passengers in transit. While not necessarily dreadful, in light of Ethiopian's membership of Star Alliance, it could do with a far smarter hotel - something that is presently in the pipeline under the guise of a proposed joint venture between Ethiopian (to have 53% shareholding) and China's Hainan Air (18.8%) and the China Africa Development Fund (CADF) (28.2%) with a value of USD$60million.
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| The plot of land to be used near Bole Airport (Addis Fortune) |
Read More Here [Addis Fortune Ethiopia]"It had announced a bid in January 2009 to hire consulting firms to design and supervise the construction of the hotel, where domestic companies such as National Consult Plc, Ultimate Plan Plc, and ETG Designers & Consultants Plc, all in partnership with their international associates, had made their offers. Nonetheless, the management had cancelled this in November 2009, claiming to have an interest in searching for other alternatives."
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| The rendering for the hotel (Addis Fortune) |
Sunday, May 13, 2012
► NIGERIA: Air Nigeria gets its two A330s; to get four 787s?
After having postponed the start of Lagos-Johannesburg by one month, Nigerian national carrier Air Nigeria (VK), today finally took delivery of two wet leased EgyptAir A330s from Cairo. |
| Air Nigeria's A330-300 leaves for Lagos (Nigeria Aviation News) |
In other Air Nigeria related news, following in the footsteps of local competitor Arik Air, who in 2007 placed an order for 7 Boeing 787s, Air Nigeria has placed an order for 4 of the Dreamliners, to be used between Lagos-London, and ultimately, Lagos-Baltimore and Lagos-Dubai-Beijing, though this has yet to be confirmed by Boeing.
Nigerian press reports state that the deal, worth nearly USD$900million, is to be financed by the USEXIM bank.
"THISDAY checks revealed that each of the aircraft will cost the airline $221,775,000, totalling $887,100,000 which will be financed by the USEXIM Bank.
According to the chairman of Air Nigeria, Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim, who confirmed the aircraft orders, as initial deposit, the airline will be required to sign and pay four per cent of the total cost of the aircraft amounting to $35,484,000 by May 22 in London. On delivery, he said the aircraft will fly the Lagos-London, Lagos-Baltimore and Lagos-Dubai-Beijing routes, while one plane will be kept in reserve.
If everything goes according to plan, Air Nigeria will be the first West African airline to have the Dreamliner aircraft in its fleet. Ethiopian Airways has already placed orders for the Dreamliner aircraft, but delivery date is set for 2016."Read More Here [ThisDay Nigeria]
► UGANDA: Turkish Airlines flight to Johannesburg diverts to Entebbe.
A Turkish Airlines Airbus A330 TC-JNM recently enroute from Istanbul to Johannesburg, South Africa was forced to divert to Entebbe, Uganda following engine problems.
The aircraft landed safely, though passengers were forced to wait for a replacement aircraft to be dispatched from Turkey.
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| THY Turkish Airlines A330 TC-JNM (Alfonso Rodenas Pena) |
Read More Here [The Aviation Herald]"A Turkish Airlines Airbus A330-300, registration TC-JNM performing flight TK-40 (dep May 10th) from Istanbul (Turkey) to Johannesburg (South Africa) with 250 passengers, was enroute near Entebbe (Uganda) when the crew needed to shut an engine (CF6) down. The aircraft diverted to Entebbe for a safe landing."
Saturday, May 12, 2012
► TANZANIA: Air Tanzania's B737-500 finally arrives (Pic included).
Two days late, but better late than never or so the saying goes. Tonight Saturday, Air Tanzania finally received its Boeing 737-500 leased from AeroVista of Dubai.
Friday, May 11, 2012
► SOUTH AFRICA: SAA pilot incapacitated during flight from Hong Kong to Johannesburg.
A South African Airways pilot was incapacitated during a scheduled flight from Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok Airport to Johannesburg on 30 April.
► UNITED KINGDOM: British Airways to replace BMI codes on 3 Moroccan routes.
Read More Here [Airline Route]London Heathrow – Agadir
- BD44x > BA816x
London Heathrow – Casablanca
- BD44x > BA816x
London Heathrow – Marrakech
- BD44x > BA816x
British Airway's parent company International Airlines Group (IAG) bought British Midland International from Lufthansa in April.
► TANZANIA: Air Tanzania's mysterious B737 fails to pitch up - again.
Following on from our initial report, Air Tanzania were indeed lined up at Dar es Salaam on Thursday, and when that failed to happen, again today to receive their Boeing 737-500 wet leased from Aerovista of Dubai.
► MOROCCO: Jetairfly to start Brussels - Rabat this summer.
Belgian LCC Jetairfly (TB) is to start 2x weekly Brussels - Rabat service for the duration of this summer i.e. 26 June 2012 to 02 September 2012 using a Boeing 737.
► NAMIBIA: 3 arrested for fraud at Air Namibia.
Reports from the Namibian press state that 3 people have been arrested for fraudulently obtaining airline tickets from a staff member at the national carrier Air Namibia (SW), who has since been suspended whilst investigations are carried out into the matter.
► GAMBIA: Aircraft lessor Aeolus Air acquires B737-500
Newly founded Gambian ACMI (Aircraft, complete Crew, Maintenance, and Insurance) operator Aeolus Air has acquired an ex-VistaGeorgia Boeing 737-500 (MSN 26687 | C5-AAN) that it is now operating on behalf of Marsland Aviation in the Sudan, who also use another VistaGeorgia operated B737-500 MSN 26439.
► SOMALIA: Jubba Airways leases B737 from Air Bishkek.
Somali-based airline Jubba Airways (6J) has wet leased a Boeing 737-300 (MSN# 27521) from Kyrgyzstani airline, Air Bishkek.
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| Boeing 737-300 MSN 27521 (Colin Parker) |
This comes after the crash of one of Jubba Airways' Antonov AN-24s in Galkayo, Somalia some 10 days ago.
Presently, Jubba Airways serves Mogadishu, Berbera, Hargeisa, Bosaso, Galkayo, Dubai, Jeddah, Djibouti and Nairobi.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
► RWANDA: RwandAir increases flights to Tanzania from 10 June 2012. .
Rwandan carrier RwandAir (WB) has announced an increase in flights on Kigali-Kilimanjaro-Dar Es Salaam-Kigali from 4x weekly, to 6x weekly. with effect from 10 June 2012, using either a Boeing 737-500 or 800.
RwandAir: Kigali - Dar es Salaam - Kilimanjaro - Kigali (Monday)
- WB 103 KGL : 12h20 DAR : 15h25 1 B737-500 / 800
- WB 103 DAR : 16h10 JRO : 17h10 1 B737-500 / 800
- WB 103 JRO : 17h55 KGL : 18h25 1 B737-500 / 800
RwandAir: Kigali - Dar es Salaam - Kilimanjaro - Kigali (Wednesday)
- WB 103 KGL : 12h20 JRO : 14h50 3 B737-500 / 800
- WB 103 JRO : 15h35 DAR : 16h35 3 B737-500 / 800
- WB 103 DAR : 17h20 KGL : 18h25 3 B737-500 / 800
► EGYPT: Palestinian Airlines restarts services between Egypt and Jordan.
Following a 7 year hiatus, Palestinian Airlines (PF) has resumed operations between Amman, Jordan and El-Arish, Egypt.
► ANGOLA: TAAG to get more 777s in 2016; starts ticket sales in Argentina.
"The information was released by Luis de Almeida, TAAG's general representative to the Americas, having said that negotiations are underway for the signing of agreements with Argentine carrier Aerolineas Argentinas. The accords will then enable the passengers to get the single ticket from the origin to destination (ex: Buenos Aires / Luanda / Buenos Aires)."
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| TAAG 777-300ER (Paulo Santos) |
Meanwhile, TAAG has also announced the delivery of 3 Boeing 777-300ER, in addition to its current 2, from 2016 onwards, in part of a major expansion drive.
"The information was released on Tuesday in Luanda by TAAG CEO, Pimentel Araujo, while speaking about the development of the company, during a cycle of workshops called “Empresa Feliz”."
● NIGERIA: More dodgy deals - Government wants USD$15m from Lufthansa.
In yet another aggressive shot fired at foreign carriers by the Nigerian Government, the Minister for Aviation, Stella Oduah, was today directed by the Nigerian Senate to immediately recover from German airline, Lufthansa, USD$14.8 million (about Naira37billion) owed to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), albeit, under a very murky pretext.
■ ZIMBABWE: Finances for Victoria Falls Airport upgrade unveiled - at last.
In preparation for the World Tourism Organisation Congress to be jointly hosted by Zimbabwe and Zambia in Victoria Falls,
the Zimbabwean Government has at last, availed part of the USD$150million needed to rehabilitate and upgrade Victoria Falls Airport. How much has been given, though, is still unknown.
► NIGERIA: Air Nigeria postpones Johannesburg to 17 June 2012.
Having been previously scheduled to start on May 17, Air Nigeria (VK) have announced the postponement of their Lagos - Johannesburg route to 17 June 2012.Read More Here [Airline Route]Air Nigeria: Lagos - Johannesburg (from 17 June 2012)
- VK303 LOS2350 – 0650+1JNB 332 247
- VK302 JNB0935 – 1435LOS 332 135
► LIBYA: Air Malta to resume Benghazi from 29 May 2012.
As Libya's political and national security continue to show signs of further stability, so too are more and more airlines expressing interest in reopening routes that were closed at the onset of the Libyan Revolution last year.
One such airline is Malta's flag carrier, Air Malta (KM) who this week stated that they would restart a twice weekly service between Valletta and Libya’s second largest city, Benghazi every Tuesday and Thursday as from Tuesday, 29th May. The flights will supplement the daily service to Tripoli, the country’s capital, which started operating from Friday, 4th May.
Valletta - Benghazi (Tuesday / Thursday)
- Valletta dep 0440hrs arr Benghazi 0605hrs
- Benghazi dep 0705hrs arr Valletta 0825hrs
Read More Here [Air Malta]
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
► ETHIOPIA: Etihad to start Abu Dhabi - Addis Ababa from Nov 2012.
Abu Dhabi-based airline Etihad Airways (EY) is to start a twice weekly service Abu Dhabi - Addis Ababa from 02 November 2012 using an Airbus 320.
Abu Dhabi – Addis Ababa
- EY681 AUH0945 – 1230ADD 320 x46
- EY682 ADD1455 – 1925AUH 320 x46
► TUNISIA: Tunisair reports strong Q1 as Tunisia's tourism rebounds.
Tunisair's (TU) results for the first quarter of 2012 shown a remarkable rebound from the same time last year when events of The Arab Spring caused considerable disruptions to many North African and Arab carriers, some of whom, are still reeling.
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