■ ZIMBABWE: Edmund Makona appointed Air Zimbabwe interim CEO as forensic audit now fingers upper management.

Air Zimbabwe (UM) has appointed its head of Quality, Safety & Security, Mr. Edmund Makona, as its acting Chief Executive Officer following the recent suspension of incumbent Mr Innocent Mavhunga and acting Managing Director, Ms Grace Pfumbidzayi. The two were suspended to allow for further investigations after a recent forensic audit of the airline's operations uncovered alleged financial discrepancies in its insurance premium payments for the period 2009 - present.

► BOTSWANA: Kalahari Airways eyes flights to New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong via its Gaborone hub.

Denis Coghlan, the chief executive officer of the ambitious Botswana-based startup, Kalahari Airways, has outlined his longterm vision for the company in which he sees the establishment of Gaborone as a regional hub for flights to Hong Kong and the United States in addition to London.

■ 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.

■ SOUTH AFRICA: PAKAfrica Aviation clarifies its designs on 1Time and its launch plans.

PAKAviation Africa has clarified its plans to establish a new regional African carrier using a restructured 1Time Airline (T6) as its foundation. According to the Dubai/Pakistani-backed firm, 1Time Holdings Ltd is to be used as a housing company for assets once a controlling stake (still pending regulatory approval) is acquired. 

► ZIMBABWE: Air Zimbabwe eyes Zambia, Malawi, Durban flights; still gung-ho on London Gatwick in November.

Air Zimbabwe (UM) is planning to roll out more regional and international destinations with effect from October/November onwards as the airline attempts to reclaim its lost southern African market share. In addition, it has now noted that a resumption of services to China is also on the cards.

► FLEET UPDATE BULLETIN: Gomair, Ghadames Air Transport, Air Niamey, AV Cargo and the Cameroon Air Force.

The following is a fleet update bulletin for aircraft that are in use, have been in use or will be in use for these listed airlines: Gomair, Ghadames Air Transport (0G), Air Niamey (A7), AV Cargo (Z3) and the Cameroon Air Force.

► MALAWI: Zimbabwe, Malawi sign revised Bilateral Air Services Agreement.

Malawi and Zimbabwe have announced the signing of a revised Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) that will see greater flexibility and freedom for each country's designatedcarriers. The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the recent Southern African Development Community (SADC) Heads of State Summit recently held in Lilongwe, Malawi.

► ZIMBABWE: PAKAfrica Aviation to use 1time buy out, stake in CATS to establish hub out of Harare.

South Africa-based PAKAfrica Aviation has reportedly acquired a 49% stake in Zimbabwe's Central Air Transport Services (ZO) and intends to use the acquisition, in conjunction with a proposed ZAR15million (USD1.5million) buy out of defunct South African LCC, 1time (T6), to establish a regional hub out of Harare. 

► NAMIBIA: Air Namibia ERJ135s to undergo maintenance in August; adjusts timetable accordingly.

Air Namibia has announced that owing to mandatory maintenance checks on its fleet of four Embraer ERJ135s, effective August 12-31 the following schedule changes have been made:

► 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.

► ZIMBABWE: Lufthansa not coming back to Harare any time soon: Dünhaupt

German carrier, Lufthansa (LH), will not be returning to the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, any time soon,  group communications director for Africa, Mr Aage Dünhaupt, has said, but would instead continue to maintain a presence in the market via a codeshare with its Star Alliance partner South African Airways' (SA) multiple daily Johannesburg - Harare flights.

► ZIMBABWE: Twice weekly Air Zimbabwe Vic Falls - Johannesburg flights resume from today.

Air Zimbabwe (UM) has pushed back the resumption of its much anticipated Victoria Falls - Johannesburg route to today, Friday, July 26. Originally announced as operating 3x weekly from July 12, flights will now only operate on Fridays and Sundays with an Embraer ERJ145 (MSN 145607 | ZS-BBH) leased from South Africa's Solenta Aviation.

► ZIMBABWE: SA Express adds fourth weekly Durban - Harare flight from early August.

Effective August 4, SA Express (XZ) plans to increase its frequency on its Durban - Harare route to four weekly flights. The additional flight will operate on Sundays on-board CRJ200 aircraft. 

► UGANDA: fastjet outlines further African licencing plans with Uganda, Zambia now mentioned.

Further to a previous report in which fastjet (FN) allured to being in talks with four unnamed African carriers over possible partnerships, company Chief Commercial Officer, Mr Richard Bodin, has said that his airline, in addition to now having a "confirmed licence" in Nigeria, was now close to completing the initial steps for applications to fly in Uganda though gave no further details.

► SOUTH AFRICA: fastjet keen on Mozambique, Zimbabwe markets as more SA carriers eye Dar es Salaam.

With the launch of Johannesburg - Dar es Salaam flights said to be approaching "soon", fastjet says once operations are in place, it would like to get in on the difficult to access, albeit very lucrative, South Africa - Mozambique and South Africa - Zimbabwe markets.

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■ ZIMBABWE: CAAZ looking for $400mln to upgrade Harare International to cope with future traffic growth.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) will need USD400million overall to proceed with plans to expand Harare International Airport, which is anticipating a rise in traffic over the coming 10 years.

► ZIMBABWE: Air Zimbabwe resumes Vic Falls - Johannesburg from July 12.

Air Zimbabwe (UM) is to tentatively resume its Victoria Falls - Johannesburg flights with effect from July 12. The 3x weekly flights will operate with an Embraer E145. As of this posting however, the flight is not yet open to reservations and further changes to the schedule still remain possible.

► UGANDA: Air Uganda eyes future regional, international expansion once East Africa is "conquered".

Air Uganda's (U7) CEO, Mr Cornwell Muleya, has outlined his ambitions for the airline which include plans to expand "beyond the East African market" once all opportunities in the region have been exhausted.

► SOUTH AFRICA: DoT grants fastjet Foreign Operators Permit paving way for Dar - Joburg; no mention of Kigali or Lusaka (yet).

Following on from its previous announcement, fastjet (FN) says it has been issued a Foreign Operator Permit from the South African Department of Transport thereby paving the way for the launch of flights between Dar es Salaam and Johannesburg.

► ZIMBABWE: Air Zimbabwe mulling either the A330/777 for future long haul ops.

Air Zimbabwe (UM) is reportedly mulling leasing either the Airbus A330 or the Boeing 777 as a long haul replacement for its ageing pair of 767s, one of which, (MSN 24867 | Z-WPF), is reportedly undergoing a C-Check set to last 10-months. The other, (MSN 24713 | Z-WPE), is still serviceable though with the advent of the A320 on the airline's Harare - Johannesburg route, it has been parked and is now kept on standby for VVIP (i.e Presidential flights), charters and as a back up. Once refurbished, the aircraft should be deployed on London flights in November.