► 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.

► LIBERIA: Brussels Airlines increases Monrovia, drops Bamako from early 2013.

Belgian carrier Brussels Airlines (SN) is to terminate its Bamako, Mali flights effective 8 January 2013. Bamako is currently served once weekly in tandem with Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire.

► LIBERIA: British Airways confirms Monrovia via Freetown from November.

In confirmation to our original post on the topic, British Airways (BA) have confirmed they will resume three times weekly flights to Monrovia, Liberia albeit via Freetown, Sierra Leone using a Boeing 767-300ER, effective 5 November 2012.

Freetown was originally meant to increase to a 3x weekly service effective 31 March 2013.

► LIBERIA: British Airways to resume Monrovia flights by the end of October?

Press reports out of Liberia state that British Airways (BA) is to resume flights to Monrovia, Liberia by the end of October, following the recent visit to the country by BA's  Regional Service Manager for sub-Sahara Africa, Rob Cooper.

"The press release from the Ministry of Transport said Mr. Cooper is in the country to explore possibilities for the airways to recommence flights to Liberia. Mr. Cooper said the level of peace in Liberia makes it an ideal moment for British Airways to do business here again. Deputy Minister J. Ebenezer Kolliegbo told Mr. Cooper that the decision

► SIERRA LEONE: Fly540 Ghana to launch Freetown, Abidjan flights from early September; Monrovia, Lagos to follow.

According to Amadeus, Fly540 Ghana (5G) is to venture further into the regional field when it launches flights from its Accra, Ghana hub to Sierra Leone, Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia and Nigeria all in quick succession

Mention is also made of a potential flight to Lomé, Togo in the future.

First to be launched will be Accra, Ghana - Freetown, Sierra Leone and Accra, Ghana - Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire on 3 September 2012,  with Accra, Ghana - Monrovia, Liberia on 18 September 2012 and finally

► KENYA: FastJet shows off livery (Pics); Fly540 brand to go.

Following on from this week's acquisition of Lonrho Aviation (t/a Fly540), FastJet Ghana's parent company Rubicon Investments, of which Stelios Haji-Ioannou of EasyJet fame is a 5% shareholder, has outlined its plans and future prospects for the transformation of and integration of Fly540 into a Pan-African LCC giant.

A Low Cost Carrier headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, Fly540 has franchises in Angola, Ghana, Tanzania and Ghana, and operates ATR 72s, CRJ-100s, DHC 8-100s and McDonnell Douglas DC 9s. Collectively, its route network includes various cities in Kenya, Tanzania, Angola, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Burundi, Liberia, Nigeria, South Sudan and Uganda.

A FastJet Airbus A319 rendering

In its beginning stages, FastJet will coexist with Fly540, whilst the former moves to build a fleet using either Airbus A319s, Boeing 737-700s and/or Embraer EMB-190s. Once fleet consolidation is achieved as per the classic LCC model (a uniform fleet keeps maintenance costs down), Fly540's current aircraft leases are to be allowed to expire, before the brand itself is phased out, leaving FastJet as the main driving force.

Ultimately, FastJet aims to carry more than 12 million passengers a year, by focussing on Africa's burgeoning middle class - a phenomenon that is fast becoming a reality in Angola, Kenya and Nigeria, where substantial economic growth in recent years has meant more money in the pocket for the ordinary man on the street.

""If you take the four countries, they have a total population of 100 million people. If you estimate that all our customers come from just those countries alone, you could see three million of them becoming customers with us, flying a couple of times a year. That would generate something like 12.8 million passengers [annually]." "

Read More Here [GhanaWeb]

At the helm of FastJet will be many of Haji-Ioannou's colleagues from his days at EasyJet: Richard Boden, a former Contracts Manager at EasyJet, Ed Winter, FastJet's new CEO and formerly easyJet's Chief Operating Officer, whilst Haji-Ioannou himself, will be a consultant.

► UNITED STATES: Delta drops Atlanta to Accra & Monrovia.

American carrier Delta (DL) is to axe its Boeing 767-300ER service from Atlanta to Accra, Ghana and Monrovia, Liberia with effect from 11 August 2012 as a result of high jet fuel prices and inconsistent passenger traffic. 

However, the airline has stated that it will increase its better performing New York - Accra route from 4x weekly, to 5x weekly.

Delta Boeing 767 at Accra (PRM)

"Although the Atlanta flight will be phased out, Delta will increase its weekly frequency from New York to Accra from four flights to five, the airline said in a statement.  The removal of three Atlanta flights and three to Monrovia cuts the number of Delta weekly flights serving the Ghanaian capital in half. Delta still has the New York routes, which also connect in two days per week to Abuja, Nigeria."

Read More Here [Global Atlanta]

 The airline first serviced the route in 2010, and comes in the wake of fellow American carrier United's decision to cancel its Washington DC - Accra route from July 2012, citing poor yields aswell.