► CAMEROON: Turkish Airlines to start 4x weekly Yaounde, Douala flights from late December.

Turkish Airlines (TK) has announced another route into Central/West Africa; this time to Cameroon. The Turkish carrier, which recently celebrated adding its 200th aircraft to its ever growing fleet, will serve the cities of Yaounde and Douala 4x weekly with a Boeing 737-900ER effective 21 December 2012.

► NIGER: Turkish Airlines to start 3x weekly Niamey, Ouagadougou flights from December.

Following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding and a Bilateral Air Services Agreement between the Governments of Niger and Turkey in May, the Nigerien ministries of Foreign Affairs and Transport today  announced that Turkish Airlines is to start flights between Turkey, Niger and Burkina Faso effective mid December.

► KENYA: Turkish Airlines launches Kilimanjaro, Mombasa from December.

There at last seems to be some good news for the Kenyan city of Mombasa as Turkish Airlines (TK) announced today that it would commence a 5x weekly, Boeing 737-900ER operated flight routed Istanbul (Turkey) - Kilimanjaro (Tanzania) - Mombasa (Kenya) - Istanbul effective 4 December.

► 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.

► SOMALIA: Turkish Airlines boosts Djibouti and Mogadishu flights from 2013 on.

Turkish Airlines (TK) will, starting from 26 January 2013, increase its current 2x weekly Boeing 737-800 operated  Istanbul – Djibouti – Mogadishu (Somalia) service, to 3x weekly by adding a Saturday flight to the roster.

► BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA: Libya's Buraq Air tipped for minority shareholding in B&H Airlines.

Tripoli based Buraq Air (UZ), a private Libyan airline that operates scheduled domestic and international services to Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, has been tipped as the most likely candidate to acquire a 49% in Bosnian airline BH Airlines (JA).

► MOZAMBIQUE: Turkish Airlines looks to add Maputo to route network in coming months.

The Turkish media this week allured to a new possible route between Istanbul and Maputo, Mozambique as Turkey aims to extend its carrier, Turkish Airlines' (TK), reach even further into the continent.

Following the recent signing of a new memorandum of understanding between Turkey and Gabon which will see service to Libreville and possibly, another as yet unnamed destination (either Franceville or Port Gentil), the Turkish Ministry of Transportation's Suat Hayri Aka stated that: 

► GABON: Turkish Airlines to serve Libreville from late December.

Panapress Africa is reporting that Turkey and Gabon, on Monday 4 September,  finalized a Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) that will see the Turkish carrier operating a daily flight between Istanbul and Libreville, the Gabonese capital, with effect from "the end of December."

► MAURITANIA: Turkish Airlines to launch Nouakchott via Dakar from mid September.

Turkish Airlines (TK) made another power move into the West African market by announcing a Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday weekly Istanbul – Nouakchott, Mauritania – Dakar, Senegal – Istanbul service using a Boeing 737-800 with effect from 16 September 2012. 

At present the Dakar sector is operated via Tunis, Tunisia, which will cease on the 16th.

► EGYPT: Turkish Airlines to start Hurghada from October.

Turkish Airlines (TK) has continued its push into the Egyptian market by announcing the start of 3x weekly Airbus A319 operated flights between Istanbul and Hurghada, Egypt to start 17 October 2012.

Turkish Airlines Africa Network (Updated)

Turkish Airlines: Istanbul, Turkey - Hurghada, Egypt

-Effective 17 October 2012

• TK702 IST0205 – 0450HRG 319 x567
• TK703 HRG0635 – 0925IST 319 x567

Source [Airline Route]

Turkish Airlines has an extensive network in Egypt, serving Cairo, Alexandria and Sharm el Sheikh.

► DJIBOUTI: Turkish Airlines to serve Mogadishu via Djibouti from September.

It seems hardly a week goes by that Turkish carrier Turkish Airlines (TK) doesn't announce a new African destination. This time round, the new African route to be served will be Djibouti, with a tag on leg to Mogadishu, Somalia, which was previously serviced via Khartoum, Sudan. 

Turkish Airlines Africa Network

The 2x weekly flights are scheduled to begin 4 September 2012 with an Airbus A320 and, it should be noted, Turkish Airlines has also been given 5th Freedom rights to ferry passengers on the Djibouti - Somalia sector of the flight.

Turkish Airlines: Istanbul – Djibouti – Mogadishu, Somalia

- Effective 4 September 2012

• TK686 IST2325 – 0440+1JIB0530+1 – 0705+1MGQ 320 24
• TK687 MGQ0830 – 1005JIB1055 – 1600IST 320 35

Source [Airline Route]

► LIBYA: Turkish Airlines to start Sebha effective September 2012.

Starting 2 September 2012, Turkish Airlines (TK) continues its aggressive push into Africa, this time with the announcement of a new 3x weekly flight between Istanbul and Sebha, Libya to be serviced with an Airbus A320. At present Turkish Airlines operates a fairly extensive Libyan network with flights offered to Tripoli, Benghazi and Misurata.

Turkish Airlines' Libya Network

Turkish Airlines: Istanbul, Turkey - Sebha, Libya

-Effective 2 September 2012

• TK641 IST0945 – 1215SEB 320 247
• TK642 SEB1310 – 1730IST 320 247

Source [AirlineRoute]

As previously reported by The African Aviation Tribune, Turkish Airlines will shortly commence flights to Kinshasa, DRC and to Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt.

► TURKEY: Turkish Airlines announces changes to Africa Network for Winter 2012.

Turkish carrier Turkish Airlines (TK) has announced various changes to its African network effective Q4 of 2012.

Turkish Airlines Africa Network

Istanbul – Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
-Effective 28 October 2012 service reduces from daily to 5x weekly using 737-900ER.

• TK603 IST1910 – 0335+1DAR 739 x13
• TK604 DAR0435 – 1050IST 739 x24

Istanbul – Nairobi, Kenya 

-Effective 28 October 2012 Boeing 737-800 replaces -900ER, daily service

• TK607 IST1950 – 0325+1NBO 73H 1234567
• TK608 NBO0445 – 1020IST 73H 1234567

Istanbul – Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt
-Effective 9 October 2012 NEW 4x weekly service to its 3rd destination in Egypt. Schedule below effective 28 October 2012.

• TK700 IST0205 – 0440SSH 737 135
• TK701 SSH0640 – 0925IST 737 135

Istanbul – Kigali, Rwanda – Entebbe, Uganda - Istanbul
- Effective 28 October 2012 service increases from 4x to 5x weekly using a 737-900ER

• TK606 IST1840 – 0130+1KGL0225+1 – 0420+1EBB0520+1 – 1045+1IST 739 x27

Istanbul – Kinshasa, DRC
- Effective 27 September 2012 service increases from 4x to 5x weekly. Schedule below effective 28 October 2012.

• TK671 IST1445 – 2115FIH 739 26
• TK672 FIH2215 – 0630+1IST 739 26

Source [Airline Route]

► NIGERIA: Turkish Airlines applies for Abuja & Kano; considers Enugu.

Turkish Airlines (TK) has reportedly applied for clearance to the Nigerian Government for permission to start flights between Istanbul and Abuja, Kano and possibly Enugu according to news reports out of Nigeria.

Should the routes be granted, they would be Turkish Airlines' second, third and fourth destinations in Nigeria after Lagos, which they have served since 2006.

Chief Executive Officer and President of Turkish Airlines, Dr. Temel Kotil had this to say:

“With its huge resources, Africa is the place to go. We want to expand our business in that continent.  With her huge population and resources, we want to increase our flights to Nigeria.  We want to fly into Abuja, Kano and Enugu.”

Read More Here [Vanguard Nigeria]

Turkish Airlines Africa Network

Turkish Airlines has seen its African Market share rise to 3% in the last 10 years with an aggressive push into various markets, the most adventurous of which has been its service to Mogadishu, Somalia which started this year.

Currently, it serves 21 destinations, the latest being Kinshasa whose service will begin in August. Rumours are afoot that  Conakry (Guinea), Freetown (Sierra Leone) and  Douala (Cameroon) are also inline to be added, however, no official confirmation from Turkish Airlines could be obtained.

► SOMALIA: Government 'planning' to restart Somali Airlines.

The Somali Government on Saturday outlined possible plans to resurrect defunct Somali national carrier Somali Airlines (HH), more than 20 years after it collapsed.  Since then, the vacuum left has been filled by  several private airlines, amongst which are Jubba Airways, Daallo Airlines and Puntair.

► 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.

THY Turkish Airlines A330 TC-JNM (Alfonso Rodenas Pena)

"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."

Read More Here [The Aviation Herald]