► TANZANIA: Emirates boosts capacity to Dar es Salaam from 1 February.

Emirates Airlines (EK) will from 1 February 2013 boost its capacity to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania via the introduction of a daily Boeing 777-300ER. Presently, the flight operates with an A340-500.

► MAURITIUS: Emirates to operate one off A380 flight on 12 March.

Emirates (EK) today announced it will operate a one-off Airbus A380 service to Port Louis, Mauritius on 12 March to mark the occasion of the 45th Anniversary of Mauritius' independence from Britain.

► MALAWI: British Airways, Emirates and Qatar Airways interested in starting flights: Government.

Malawi's Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Planning and Economic, Ted Sitimawina, has disclosed that British Airways (BA), Qatar Airways (QR) and Emirates (EK) have all expressed interest in starting flights to the landlocked Central African country, a move that would help to drive down the exorbitant cost of air travel to the country.

► DUBAI: Emirates eyes fastjet as potential feeder airline in Africa.

Emirates (EK) has confirmed its interest in partnering recently launched Tanzanian based LCC, fastjet (FN) having previously allured to a possible deal in the past, albeit only in broad terms.

Spurred on by Africa’s rapid economic growth amid increased trade with Asian economies, the Middle Eastern carrier is looking to connect the bulk of the continent’s travellers to the rest of the world through its Dubai hub with budget airlines set to "feed" it with cargo and passengers via major cities like Nairobi, Dakar and Luanda.

► 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."

■ 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.

►► LIBYA: Emirates cancels intended Tripoli service resumption.

[UPDATED 3 OCTOBER 2012] Emirates (EK) are to restart their service from Dubai to Tripoli, Libya that was suspended in February of last year due to the Libyan Uprising. The flights will recommence on 29 October 2012 with a 4x weekly Airbus A330-200 service that will switch to an Airbus A340-300 from 2 January 2013.

► DUBAI: Emirates looks to partner African LCC airlines in bid to establish feeder networks.

Emirati carrier Emirates (EK) has allured to plans it has for future partnerships with Africa-focused low-cost carriers as the mega-carrier moves to boost its presence on the continent.

► BURUNDI: United Arab Emirates & Burundi sign Air Services Agreement MOU.

The Burundian Government and the United Arab Emirates, last week signed an air services Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and initialled an Air Services Agreement 'ASA', which could lead to the start of bilateral air services between the two countries, sometime in the future.

►► TUNISIA: Emirates cancels planned Tunis reduction to 5x weekly service from December.

[SEE UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM] Following on from its previous announcement, Dubai based carrier Emirates (EK) will, from 1 December 2012, reduce its weekly service from Dubai to Tunis, Tunisia, from daily to 5x weekly; Mondays and Sundays being nixed. 

► UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Emirates announces various equipment changes to Accra & Abidjan, Lagos, Entebbe and Nairobi effective 2013.

Dubai based carrier, Emirates (EK), has announced various changes to some its African destinations, effective from between January and February of next year.  

For other previously announced updates, see these posts.

► ALGERIA: Emirates starts daily flights to Algiers from March 2013.

Its 22nd destination in Africa, Dubai based Emirates (EK) today announced it will serve the Algerian capital, Algiers, with a daily Airbus A330-200 effective 1 March 2013. With the Airbus A330's belly-hold capacity of 12 tonnes, Emirates SkyCargo expects to export commodities such as frozen fish, lobsters, oil and gas equipment and palm oil to points across its network whilst imports including a variety of manufactured goods are expected to form the bulk of goods shipped into Algeria.

► SEYCHELLES: Emirates to go 12x weekly from December, 13x weekly from February 2013.

Emirates (EK) is to increase its Airbus A340-500 operated flights between Dubai and Mahé, Seychelles from 11x weekly, to 12x weekly with an added Monday flight effective 3 December 2012. From 5 February 2013, the airline is to add a 13th weekly frequency on a Tuesday.

► MAURITIUS: Emirates to go 14x weekly as Air Mauritius, Air Austral & Air Madagascar band together to survive.

Bucking the ongoing trend amongst European carriers of reducing their frequencies to the Indian Ocean island, Dubai based mega-carrier, Emirates (EK), has announced an increase in its weekly frequencies from 11x weekly to 12x weekly from 28 October 2012, with the route going 14x weekly from 28 November 2012.

Emirates: Dubai, UAE - Port Louis, Mauritius

- EK3705/3706 operate Day 23456 from 28 October 2012 until 27 November 2012

• EK701 DXB 0310 – 0940 MRU 773 | 2457
• EK3703 DXB 0310 – 0940 MRU 773 | 136
• EK3705 DXB 1000 – 1645 MRU 773 | 1234567

• EK3706 MRU 1820 – 0110+1 DXB 773 | 1234567
• EK702 MRU 2320 – 0555+1 DXB 773 | 2457
• EK3704 MRU 2320 – 0555+1 DXB 773 | 136

Source [Airline Route]

► SOUTH AFRICA: Emirates cancels intended A380 service return to Johannesburg.

As a result of the introduction of a new A380 service to Singapore on a regular basis, the planned A380 service resumption on Dubai – Johannesburg EK761/762 from 01 December 2012, is cancelled. Consequently, Dubai - Johannesburg's service will remain unchanged henceforth (see below).

Emirates Airbus A380 (Emirates)

Emirates: Dubai, UAE - Johannesburg, South Africa
- Effective 28 October 2012 and onwards until further notice

► ZIMBABWE: Emirates switches to Boeing 777 on Harare/Lusaka flights from February 2013.

Dubai based carrier Emirates (EK) will, from 1 February 2013, switch from an Airbus A330-200 to a Boeing 777-300ER on its daily Dubai - Lusaka - Harare route. The date is iconic in that it will be the 1 year anniversary of the route's introduction.

Economy Class cabin on-board an Emirates 777-300ER (moaksey)

Emirates: Dubai - Lusaka, Zambia - Harare, Zimbabwe
- Effective 01 February 2013

• EK713 DXB 0925 - 1450 LUN 1620 - 1720 HRE 77W 1234567
• EK714 HRE 1850 - 1950 LUN 2120 - 0640+1 DXB 77W 1234567

Source [Amadeus]

It was expected that the Emirati carrier would decouple the two African destinations from one another at some stage, though this has apparently changed.

■ NAMIBIA: Air Namibia in partnership talks with Kenya Airways & Emirates as Ethiopian prepares for possible Windhoek launch.

Air Namibia (SW) is reportedly in talks with fellow African carrier Kenya Airways (KQ) over the possibility of forming a partnership, reports from Windhoek say with Kenya Airways' CEO Titus Naikuni expected in the Namibian capital sometime this week.

► UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Emirates announces various changes to its Africa network for Winter 2012.

Dubai-based carrier, Emirates (EK) has announced various changes to its African network as it gears up for the Northern Hemisphere Winter.

Emirates Africa Route Network

  Emirates NH Winter 2012 Africa Changes

Dubai – Cape Town, South Africa

- Aircraft used gradually switches to an Airbus A340-300.

• EK772 DXB0350 – 1140CPT 343 1234567
• EK770 DXB0850 – 1625CPT 343 1234567
• EK773 CPT1330 – 0120+1DXB 343 1234567
• EK771 CPT1810 – 0535+1DXB 343 1234567
• EK770/771 operates with Airbus A340-300 instead of Boeing 777-300ER from 1 February 2013
• EK772/773 operates with Airbus A340-300 instead of -500 from 1 March 2013 (Service is suspended from 1 September 2012 until 30 November 2012).

Dubai – Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

- Effective 1 February 2013 (Previously stated as starting from 1 March 2013) 2-class 777-300ER replaces A340-500 hence no First Class service.

Previously announced:

Dubai – Johannesburg, South Africa 

- Effective 1 December 2012 Airbus A380 service resumes on EK761/762.

Dubai – Lusaka, Zambia – Harare, Zimbabwe

- Effective 1 October 2012 Service increases daily from 5 weekly; A330-200 operating.

 

Dubai – Tunis, Tunisia 

- Effective 1 December 2012, 3-class Boeing 777-300ER replaces Airbus A340-500; loss of First Class Suite service.

Source [Airline Route]

► ZIMBABWE: Emirates to split Lusaka & Harare; introduces 5x weekly direct cargo flights to Harare.

Dubai megacarrier Emirates (EK) is to split its current Dubai - Lusaka (Zambia) - Harare (Zimbabwe) route into two separate routes "in the near future" following very strong figures in both passenger and cargo volumes moved since the route's inauguration in February of this year.

► SOUTH AFRICA: Emirates again postpones A380's return to Johannesburg over wing crack concerns.

[UPDATE 30 AUGUST 2012] Emirates (EK), the Dubai based megacarrier, reports that repairs to the wings of its fleet of Airbus A380s is likely to cost at least USD$100million and will have far reaching consequences on its operations in the months to come.

Amongst the routes affected include Dubai - Johannesburg, South Africa, originally scheduled to have its A380 service restarted from 1 October onwards, but due to the aforementioned problems, will now only receive them from 1 December 2012.

Emirates Airbus A380 (Emirates)

Emirates: Dubai, UAE - Johannesburg, South Africa

• EK761 DXB0440 – 1050JNB 77W D
• EK763 DXB1015 – 1625JNB 77W D
• EK765 DXB1440 – 2050JNB 77W D

• EK762 JNB1400 – 0010+1DXB 77W D
• EK764 JNB1915 – 0515+1DXB 77W D
• EK766 JNB2220 – 0820+1DXB 77W D

Read More Here [Airline Route]

The cracks issue, discovered earlier this year, resulted from the use of a material known as '7449' that was used in A380 wing rib feet construction. The European Aviation Safety Agency issued an airworthiness directive, extended to all in-service A380s, ordering mandatory inspections of the wing ribs.

►[UPDATE 30 AUGUST 2012] See this post: ► SOUTH AFRICA: Emirates cancels intended A380 service return to Johannesburg.