■ 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.

■ 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.

► SOUTH AFRICA: DoT redtape forces Fastjet to suspend launch of Dar es Salaam - Johannesburg flights.

fastjet (FN) has announced that its first international flight between Dar es Salaam and Johannesburg, previously scheduled to take place on Friday 27 September 2013, has been temporarily postponed owing to what it claims are "unexpected administrative delays caused by  a very late request for additional documentation by the South African Department of Transport".

► TANZANIA: Auric Air announces new Njombe flights while Flightlink goes double daily to Mtwara.

Tanzanian operators Auric Air (H8) and Flightlink have announced the launch of two new domestic routes. Auric has started a 4x weekly operation from Dar es Salaam to Njombe via Iringa while Flightlink has begun double daily Dar es Salaam to Mtwara, south-eastern Tanzania flights. Both routes became effective September 16.

► MAYOTTE: Air Austral, CCIM, Ylang Invest move to formally create Ewa Air.

The Mayotte Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI Mayotte) along with Air Austral (UU) and the Yland Investment consortium officially signed an investment contract last week effectively breathing life into the new Dzaoudzi-based regional carrier, Ewa Airlines.

■ DUBAI: Emirates appoints Orhan Abbas as Senior VP for its Southern & Central Africa, Latin American Commercial operations.

Emirates (EK) has appointed Orhan Abbas its Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Latin America, Central and Southern Africa. In his new role he will oversee a number of markets, including South Africa, Angola, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia, the Indian Ocean islands Mauritius and Seychelles, and Latin American markets Brazil and Argentina.

■ TANZANIA: Precision Air posts a USD18.8million loss for FY2012/13.

Tanzania's Precision Air (PW) has confirmed sustaining a hefty loss of TZS30.4billion (USD18.84million) for its most recent 2012/13 Financial Year ended March 31, 2013. In their statement, the the Board of Directors of Precision Air Services Plc said that while total revenues had grown by 8.2% on the previous years figures to TZS176.4billion (USD109.3million), the loss was attributable to rising fuel, maintenance and equipment costs, rising personnel expenditure and an unfavourable USD exchange rate also taking its toll.

► TANZANIA: fastjet, bidAir Cargo sign freight-haulage deal.

In a departure from the orthodox LCC business model, fastjet (FN) has signed an agreement with freight specialists, BidAir, in which it will carry belly-hold cargo on its fleet of Airbus A319s.  According to the LCC, it intends to carry "dry" cargo such as post and newspapers.

► TANZANIA: mango starts scheduled Johannesburg - Zanzibar flights from late September.

South African LCC, mango (JE), will début its first scheduled international operations between Johannesburg (OR Tambo International) and Zanzibar effective September 21. The twice weekly flights will operate on-board a B737-800. 

■ TANZANIA: Air Tanzania streamlines its operations with hefty staff lay-offs.

National carrier, Air Tanzania (TC), has joined the growing list of Tanzanian airlines that have been forced to trim their workforces down with reports that 128 out its original 300-strong staff have now been let go.

► TANZANIA: fastjet to start 3x weekly Dar es Salaam - Mbeya flights from November.

As previously reported, fastjet (FN) has announced the launch of flights from Dar es Salaam to Mbeya (Songwe airport) with effect from November 1. The route will operate 3x weekly on-board an Airbus A319. Reservations will open this week.

■ TANZANIA: Omani consortium Al-Hayat resurfaces with its $100mln investment plans for Air Tanzania.

Mysterious Omani consortium, Al-Hayat Development and Investment Limited, has surfaced once again in the Tanzanian commercial hub of Dar Es Salaam and once again it is touting a USD100million investment initiative for struggling national carrier, Air Tanzania (TC). 

► TANZANIA: fastjet to embark on a staff-cutting exercise in bid to ease financial pressure.

Struggling LCC fastjet (FN), is set to become the second major Tanzanian carrier to embark on a redundancy drive following reports that it is in consultations with its employees regarding pending staff cuts aimed at trimming its head-count by 12%. 

■ RWANDA: Burundi, Rwanda sign Open Skies agreement in line with EAC protocol.

Rwanda and Burundi have signed an Open Skies Bilateral Air Services Agreement with for provision for carriers from both countries to have unlimited frequencies to each other's airspace. The move is in line with the East African Community's (EAC) efforts to liberalize its airspace through the elimination, between member states, of all the economic restrictions in the aviation sub sector related to capacity, frequencies, city pairs, cabotage, and designation of airlines.

■ TANZANIA: TAA's big dreams for Kajunguti airport stall over its price tag as Kenya, Uganda push ahead with their own upgrades.

The Tanzanian Airports Authority says it requires USD20billion to develop and construct Kajunguti International Airport, located in the north eastern province of Kagera, as a means of boosting the region's profile in the great Lakes region. Kagera forms part of Tanzania's border with Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi, and lies across Lake Victoria from Kenya.

■ TANZANIA: Precision Air to post loss during latest Financial Year; asks government for $32mln in funding.

Tanzania's Precision Air (PW) will this year post a heavy loss, the airline’s board chairman, Mr Michael Shirima, has announced. In addition, the airline has reportedly asked the government, among various other undisclosed financial institutions, for TZS51.2billion (USD32million) in funding to help cover bank loans and instalments for its TZS218billion (USD136million) order with ATR which includes four ATR42-600s and one ATR72-600.

■ TANZANIA: TCAA issues ground-handling tender for all airports excepting Dar es Salaam JNIA.

The Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) has issued a tender for the provision of ground-handling services at the country's airports excepting Dar es Salaam's Julius Nyerere International Airport which the body claims, already has adequate licence holders awaiting to be concessioned by the Tanzania Airports Authority,

► TANZANIA: fastjet A319 grounded following birdstrike.

fastjet (FN) says one of its three Airbus A319s was temporarily grounded in Tanzania following a birdstrike on August 8. The incident resulted in some flights between Dar es Salaam and Mwanza being cancelled.

► ZAMBIA: Proflight mulls expansion into Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa, the DRC and Zimbabwe.

With the recent launch of its first regional flights to Lilongwe, Malawi, Proflight Zambia (P0) is mulling adding three further international destinations to its growing network by mid-2014, effectively making Lusaka a regional hub for air travel.

■ TANZANIA: Zanzibari lawmakers irate at cost overruns, poor workmanship at new airport terminal.

The Zanzibari House of Representatives has taken the government there to task over continuous delays and cost overruns in the construction of an urgently needed new international terminal (Terminal II) at Zanzibar's Abeid Amani Karume International Airport.