At a ceremony held in Kigali this week, Rwanda and Sudan signed a five year bilateral cooperation agreement which included a Bilateral Air Service Agreement aimed at expanding air services between Kigali and Khartoum. Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Louise Mushikiwabo signed
on behalf of Rwanda with Sudan's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ali Almed
Karti signing on behalf of the Republic of Sudan.
Zambian Minister of Transport and Communication, Christopher Yaluma, says the the Zambian Government has finalised plans to re-establish a national airline with proposals to be tabled before Cabinet and the relevant authorities for approval.
Evergreen Apple Nigeria, the Lagos-based fully integrated Fixed-base operator (FBO) service provider is to hold Nigeria’s first ever dedicated Business Aviation conference - the Nigerian Business Aviation Conference, NBAC - at the prestigious Wheatbaker Hotel in Lagos on Tuesday, 7 May, 2013.
Following a meeting of the Board of Directors in late February, the Tanzanian Civil Aviation Authority has reviewed and adjusted 2009 legislation governing the liberalisation of ground handling services, including aviation fuelling, in Tanzania. The changes affect airports in Dar Es Salaam, Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar and Arusha.
[UPDATE 19 MARCH] After the appointment last month of Ozias Bvute and six other board members charged with reinvigorating the airline, Air Zimbabwe (UM) is now on the hunt for a new Chief Executive Officer to replace the incumbent, Innocent Mavhunga, who was appointed to the role temporarily following the surprise resignation of Peter Chikumba in late 2010.
An Embraer Tucano EMB-312F military aircraft belonging to the Mauritanian National General Staff (Air Wing) crashed yesterday (Monday 18 March) morning at 10h50L whilst out on a test flight. The aircraft came down 7km south-east of Aoujeft, a desert town in the Adrar Region of western Mauritania, roughly 500 kilometers (300 miles) north-east of the capital, Nouakchott.
Turkish Airlines (TK) is to boost its capacity and frequency between Istanbul and Lagos and Istanbul and Dar es Salaam. Changes will come into effect from late May.
Idaho-based Quest Aircraft Company, the manufacturer of the Kodiak 10-seater turboprop aeroplane, has named SkyQuest International, LLC as an authorized Kodiak dealer to represent the company’s sales activities in Africa.
After talks held today between its management, the Nigerian Aviation Ministry and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Dana Air (9J) has announced it will resume operations tomorrow. Fellow Nigerian domestic operator, Aero Contractors (AJ), has moved to fire nearly one thousand employees, striking since last Wednesday.
Kenyan operators ALS - Aircraft Leasing Services (K4) and Skyward International Aviation have taken delivery of an Embraer ERJ-145 and a Fokker 50 respectively while Mombasa Air Safari (RRV) and Phoenix Aviation are to retire their Let 410s and McDonnell Douglas MD83 respectively.
Tanzanian national carrier Air Tanzania (TC) will resume flights from Dar es Salaam to Moroni (Comoros) effective 25 March. Flights will operate three times weekly using Air Tanzania's leased Boeing 737-200Adv.
Following
three years of losses, Air Seychelles (HM), the national airline of the
Seychelles, today officially reported a net profit of USD1million for
its 2012/2013 Financial Year. The positive result comes just 12 months
after Abu Dhabi carrier Etihad Airways (EY) acquired a 40 per cent stake
in the airline and was awarded a five year management contract. The
result beats Etihad's original expectations in which the Gulf carrier projected Air Seychelles to turn a profit albeit within the first 24 months of operation.
LCC fastjet (FN) has taken, what it terms, "a major step” towards its acquisition of defunct South African LCC 1Time (T6) through the filing of a letter of intent with the airline's liquidators in Johannesburg. The move comes on the back of a visit by fastjet's Chairman and Chief Executive, David Lenigas, to South Africa, last week.
[UPDATE 18 MARCH] Kenya Airways (KQ) has announced plans to convert four of its six Boeing 737-300s into regional cargo freighters in a move that will see the carriers' cargo division, Kenya Airways Cargo, increasing its presence in Eastern, Central, and Southern Africa.
AirlineRoute reports that Air Mauritius (MK) will, starting 31MAR13, adjust its northbound schedule on its Mauritius – Shanghai Pu Dong route, as the carrier shifts its night-time departure, ex-Mauritius, to the afternoon.
EgyptAir (MS) in late January, signed a cooperation agreement with Palestinian Airlines (PF) to operate a series of pilgrimage flights on behalf of the Palestinian 
carrier out of its current base in El-Arish, Egypt to Muslim holy sites in Saudi Arabia.
The Namibian Airports Company (NAC) is currently constructing a new USD1.36million (NAD12.5million) state-of-the art fire and rescue station at Windhoek's Eros Airport. Together with an emergency control centre, as well as ablution and recreational facilities for staff, the new facilities will allow the airport to comply with standards stipulated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
Ethiopian Airlines' (ET) Aviation Academy is to acquire two new flight simulators for delivery later this year. The Bombardier Q400 simulator is expected in the coming months with a Boeing B787-8 simulator having recently been tendered for.
Planning for the construction of a new USD20billion "airport city" near Cairo International Airport is to be concluded come April reports from Egypt’s Ministry of Civil Aviation state. The new development will be the first of three similar projects to be built in the capital, Alexandria (Burg Al Arab airport) and at Port Said airport.
Following on from our last report, LCC fastjet (FN) is now reportedly in negotiations with a "credible local South African partner" to aide in its protracted battle to acquire control of bankrupt South African carrier, 1Time (T6). This comes after an outcry from the local airline community including South African Airways and Comair Ltd, forced fastjet to rethink its strategy to acquire 1Time, which until now, has been blocked by South African law.
Egypt's Minister of Civil Aviation, Wael al-Maddawy, says Egyptian national carrier, Egyptair (MS), has posted continuous losses of USD880million (EGP6billion) since the 2011 Egyptian revolution which lead to the fall of then president, Hosni Mubarak, and his regime.
Singapore Airlines Cargo (SV), the cargo wing of Singapore Airlines, on Monday 11 March 2013, operated a one-off Boeing 747-400F flight into the Zambian capital, Lusaka.
Nigeria's Dana Air (9J), has had its Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) revoked by the Nigerian Ministry of Aviation acting through the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). The move comes only 3 months after the carrier received its revalidated AOC and resumed operations.
Global ground service providers, Worldwide Flight Services (WFS), has entered into a long-term partnership with Wings Flight Services in Tanzania to operate a new cargo terminal at Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam.
As previously speculated by The African Aviation Tribune, South African Airways (SA) is likely to instigate legal proceedings against Comair Ltd.'s LCC kulula (MN) over the latter's controversial new branding which mocks the South African national carrier.
Angola's airport and air traffic authority Empresa Nacional de Aeroportos e Navegação Aérea (ENANA) has announced the closure of Yuri Gagarin International Airport in the south western port city of Namibe. The airport will be closed until August 2013 at the earliest to allow for rehabilitation and expansion works to proceed.
Nigeria's Arik Air (WB) has signed an ACMI lease agreement with Kano-based Emirate Touch Aviation Services Limited for the use of two of Arik's stored Boeing 737-300s for cargo ops.
According to AirlineRoute, as per the 14MAR13 GDS timetable and inventory display, Rwandair (WB)’s
planned Summer 2013 operation will change as follows, with additional changes possible.
After the floating of a tender last year in September, the Tanzanian Civil Aviation Authority is to proceed with the upgrading of its aeronautical ground-ground communications network which currently uses the Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network (AFTN) analogue standard.
After being spurned by Air France (AF) who cited a "lack of means" to commit to any partnership with lonesome Indian Ocean carrier, Air Mauritius (MK), Emirates (EK) may turn out to be the struggling airline's knight in shining armour after the two agreed to "explore further development of commercial opportunities for both companies." The announcement came after a one-off visit by an Emirates (EK) Airbus A380 to the island of Mauritius on Tuesday 12 March.
Italian carrier, Alitalia (AZ), is to boost service between Rome Fiumicino and Tripoli, Libya through the introduction of a second daily A319 operated service effective 31 March. New flights leave Rome at 1500L and Tripoli at 1755L.
Nigerian domestic operator, Aero Contractors A(J), was today, forced to suspend all flights following a strike by staff over pay and working conditions at the airline.
The Nigerian Government has appointed the Director of Aerodrome Services, Joyce Nkemakolam, as the acting Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA.
BinterSwift, the cargo division of Canary Islands-based carrier, Binter Canarias (NT), has initiated a series of meetings with entrepreneurs from the Cape Verde Islands to better understand market demands as the airline seeks to improve its African market niche by providing more alternatives for the movement of cargo from and via the Canaries to Africa and vice versa.
LAM - Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique (TM), Mozambique's national carrier is looking to boost its seats-available by 20% on 2012, to 700'000, through the exploitation of the growing domestic market to both Tete and Nampula in the northern part of the country.
Zambia's Defense Ministry has confirmed the crash of a Zambian Air Force Harbin Z-9 helicopter at Lusaka's City Airport (not to be confused with Lusaka's Kenneth Kaunda International Airport) following yesterday's Youth Day celebrations. The pilot of the chopper was killed with his co-pilot sustaining minor injuries, though the exact circumstances of the crash are still unclear.
The Nigerian Government is in the process of concluding a Bilateral Air Service Agreements (BASA) with Israel, which, it is hoping, will result in the start of direct flights before October this year. Should flights begin, they would cut flying time between Nigeria and Israel down to "six hours".
Tanzanian domestic operator, Tanganyika Flying Co. (TFC), has launched services into Serengeti Lamai Airstrip bringing the number of airstrips that TFC serves in the Serengeti National Park, to five.
After being declared the "preferred bidder" for a stake in Malawi's now dissolved national carrier Air Malawi (QM), Ethiopian Airlines (ET) says it has officially entered into negotiations with the government regarding its 49% buy-in.
Algerian carrier Tassili Airlines (SF) has outlined its intended fleet expansion plans to aide in the roll out of its recently-launched domestic network with delivery estimated to be in late 2013/early 2014.
Saudi Airlines cargo division, Saudia Cargo (SV), has further strengthened its business relationship with Fast Forward Cargo in the UAE by increasing its frequencies to West Africa from Dubai World Central. Under an agreement signed by both parties, the new partnership will operate what is equivalent to 175 combined B747 flights between the UAE and West Africa, connecting mainly to Lagos in Nigeria and N’Djamena in Chad via Saudia Cargo’s hubs in Riyadh and Jeddah.
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.