● SUDAN: GCAA releases final report on AZZA Air Transport/Sudan Airways 707 crash in Sharjah in 2009; slams Sudan Airways, SCAA for sloppy standards.

The UAE's General Civil Aviation Administration (GCAA) has released its final report on the 2009 crash of a Sudanese Boeing 707-330C (MSN 20123/788 | ST-AKW) operated by Azza Air (AZZ) on behalf of Sudan Airways(SD). The aircraft crashed into the desert outside Sharjah International Airport shortly after take off killing 3 passengers and 3 crew. The report blames a combination of poor aircraft maintenance, sloppy inspection standards on behalf of the Sudanese Civil Aviation Authority and inadequate crew training as the causes for the crash.

► ERITREA: Eritrean Airlines signs deal with Sudan Airways; looks to expand into West Africa.

Eritrean Airlines (B8), has signed a deal with Sudanese national carrier, Sudan Airways (SD), that will result in the Eritrean national carrier,operating various flights on behalf of Sudan Airways to the UAE and South Sudan. Eritrean is also looking to boost its own international frequencies to Dubai, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Italy with West African flights also in the pipeline.

► SOUTH SUDAN: flydubai to start Dubai - Juba from late April.

flydubai (FZ), the Dubai based LCC, has announced operations to Juba, the capital city of South Sudan. Commencing 21 April 2013, flights will operate 4x a week on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays using a Boeing 737-800 between Dubai Terminal 2 and Juba Airport.

►► KENYA: Kenya Airways to adjust Thailand, China, India, Dubai, Hong Kong ops from late March.

[UPDATE 14 FEBRUARY] AirlineRoute reports that as per the 06FEB13 GDS timetable and inventory display, Kenya Airways (KQ) is to adjust its operations to Thailand, China, India, Dubai, and Hong Kong.

► SUDAN: Etihad bucks trend, boosts Khartoum flights to daily.

UAE carrier Etihad Airways (EY) has increased its service from Abu Dhabi to the Sudanese capital, Khartoum with the addition of two extra weekly flights bringing the frequency up from five flights per week to daily. Etihad operates a two-class cabin A320-200 to Khartoum, configured to carry 136 passengers, with 16 in business class and 120 in economy class.

■ ETHIOPIA: "We must protect Ethiopian Airlines against unfair competition from Gulf carriers": Kuma.

Diriba Kuma, Ethiopia's Minister of Transport, has confirmed that it is indeed Ethiopian Government policy to "protect the country's airspace and national carrier, Ethiopian Airlines (ET)" from foreign carriers, the Gulf ones in particular, whom he accused of "having an unfair competitive advantage" apropos their access to below market price-Jet A1 fuel.

► DUBAI: RwandAir resumes Mombasa - Dubai, reduces Bujumbura frequencies from February.

Rwandair (WB) has announced the resumption of its 5th freedom flights between Mombasa (Kenya) and Dubai with3x weekly flights effective 02FEB13. Additionally, the carrier will from 01FEB13 reduce its current service to the Burundian capital, Bujumbura, from 3x to 2x daily flights, following the suspension of flights to Mwanza (Tanzania) effective 31JAN13.

► 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.

► SEYCHELLES: Air Seychelles boosts Abu Dhabi, Johannesburg, Mauritius flights from Spring 2013.

Air Seychelles (HM) has announced various changes to come into effect from 24 March 2013, in time for Northern Summer 2013. Amongst the changes are increased frequencies on its existing international routes, which will see an overall operation increment from 8 weekly to 14 weekly. 

■ GUINEA: Etihad Airways to serve Conakry via codeshare with Royal Air Maroc.

Etihad Airways (EY), the national airline of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has announced it will establish air links between the UAE and Guinea, in West Africa, by extending its existing code-share agreement with Moroccan national airline, Royal Air Maroc (AT).

► DUBAI: Afriqiyah to launch 2x weekly Benghazi, Tripoli - Dubai flights from 20 December.

According to their official Twitter account, Libyan airline Afriqiyah (8U) has announced that its inaugural flight to Dubai will operate from both Benghazi and Tripoli twice weekly using an Airbus A330-200.

► SOUTH AFRICA: Singapore Airlines Cargo launches new dedicated Johannesburg flights.

Singapore Airlines Cargo (SQ) has announced various changes to its world cargo routes, in addition to the announcement of a new direct Singapore - Johannesburg, South Africa dedicated terminator service. The changes have been in vigour since 28 October.

■ UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Air Arabia posts huge $61.5million net profit for Q3 2012.

Air Arabia Group, the largest low-cost carrier (LCC) in the Middle East and North Africa, today announced a net profit of USD61.5million (AED226 million) for its third quarter (Q3) of 2012, an increase of 126% as compared to USD27.2million (AED100 million) posted in the corresponding period for 2011. 

► HONG KONG: Air Seychelles to start 3x weekly Hong Kong via Abu Dhabi flights from 2013.

Seychelles national carrier (HM), today announced intentions to start flights between Mahé, Seychelles and Hong Kong (SAR) China via Abu Dhabi, UAE effective February 2013.

► ETHIOPIA: Etihad postpones Addis Ababa launch citing "Ethiopian CAA rejection".

Abu Dhabi based carrier Etihad Airways (EY) has announced the indefinite postponement of its inaugural Abu Dhabi - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia flight, set to begin this Friday, 2 November 2012.

► 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.

■ 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.

► TANZANIA: Air Tanzania resumes flights Friday as Government wants Lufthansa for joint venture.

As we reported last week, Tanzanian national carrier Air Tanzania (TC) will resume flights on Friday 12 October 2012 using their Bombardier Dash 8-300 (MSN 474 | 5H-MWF) along with two leased Boeing 737-500 of unknown origin. 

►► 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.

► 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.