• The African Aviation Tribune •

Thursday, July 4, 2013

► NIGERIA: Kabo Air takes delivery of its first B747-400 in Kano.

Nigerian Hajj specialist, Kabo Air (N9), recently took delivery of its first B747-400 (MSN 26878 | 5N-MDK) at a ceremony held at its base at Kano Mallam Aminu International Airport.

SKA International Group, the Dubai-based logistics firm that was awarded the management contract of Mogadishu's Aden Abdulle International Airport, Mogadishu has announced the addition of a 500KVa generator to the terminal as show of its commitment to the project. Recently, the Somali press has speculated about the firm's future at Aden Abdulle given the awarding of a construction and management contract for a new passenger terminal to Turkish company, Favori LLC.

Nigerian domestic carrier, Dana Air (9J), will re-launch flight services to Uyo and Calabar "in the coming weeks", Tony Usidamen, head of corporate communications at the airline, has said. Currently, Dana Air serves Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced global passenger traffic results for May 2013 with the global air travel industry continuing its April growth momentum with emerging markets, among them Africa and the Middle East, showing the strongest potential. Compared to the same period last year, overall demand rose 5.6%, while capacity climbed 5.2% pushing the load factor up 0.3 percentage points to 78.1%. Figures for global air cargo markets show that growth has continued to flatline in May, Africa included, broadly following the trend of the last 18 months.

Magma Aviation, a private United Kingdom-based cargo operator, will from July 14, launch flights from Brussels to Lome, Brazzaville and onto Kinshasa with a weekly B747-400F. Out of Lome, scheduled connections are to be offered into Bamako, Cotonou, Douala, Libreville, Monrovia and Niamey onboard ATR aircraft.

Marlene Manave, the current CEO of LAM - Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique (TM), says the Mozambican government-backed national carrier is looking for an international partner with which to create an international carrier for the airline.

During a recent meeting with Tunisian businessmen based in Italy, Tunisian Ambassador to Italy, Mr Naceur Mestiri, announced that Tunisair (TU) would soon begin flights from Tunis to the newly commissioned airport of Comiso, an ex-military base turned civilian airfield located in the Sicilian province of Ragusa, 5 km from Comiso and 15 km from Ragusa.

The Malawi government has announced that negotiations with Ethiopian Airlines (ET) have now been successfully completed, with the successor to defunct Air Malawi Ltd to be known as "Malawi Airlines Ltd".

► LIBYA: Ghadames Air Transport takes delivery of another A320.

Libya's Ghadames Air Transport (0G) has taken delivery of an Airbus A320-200 (MCN 438 | 5A-WAT) to be operated by Gambian ACMI specialists, Aeolus Air (AAZ). The aircraft is currently in Tripoli awaiting deployment into service.

Niger will reportedly push ahead with plans to add a new international passenger and freight terminal to Niamey's Diori Hamani International Airport as part of President Mahamadou Issoufou's plans to modernize the country's lagging infrastructure.

Kenyan Tourism Cabinet secretary, Ms Phyllis Kandie, has implored the Kenyan government to allow more scheduled international carriers to serve the coastal city of Mombasa with regular, year-round flights to help boost waning tourist numbers.

Africa World Airlines (AW) has joined the growing list of Ghanaian carriers eager to break into the lucrative Nigerian market but which has thus far encountered various bureaucratic obstacles.

Djibouti has announced that it is seeking partners to help in building a proposed new USD600million airport situated in a 225 km² area south-west of Djibouti City, set to replace the near 60 year old Ambouli International Airport. The government plans to combine the country's sea-cargo facilities with the air terminal to offer a unique regional air/sea cargo and passenger transit hub that will help transform the Horn of African nation's economy.

Libyan carrier, Afriqiyah (8U), will from 12JUL, increase its Tripoli - London Gatwick frequency from three times weekly, to four times weekly with the addition of a Friday flight. While flights are scheduled to operate with an Airbus A320, the use of a McDonnell Douglas MD83 leased from Spain's Swiftair (W3) is also likely.

► SOMALIA: Air Uganda to start Entebbe - Mogadishu from July 8.

True to its word, Air Uganda (U7) will from 8 July 2013, launch its previously announced 3x weekly service between Entebbe and Mogadishu, Somalia using its recently delivered CRJ200 (MCN 7363 | 5X-UGH).

Following bilateral discussions held between President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his Seychelles counterpart James Alix Michel on June 30, in Mahé, Sri Lanka and Seychelles signed three Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) on Defence Cooperation, a Bilateral Air Services Agreement and a MoU on Vocational Training and Youth Development.

Effective immediately, AV Cargo Airlines (Z3) has announced an increase in the frequency of flights to Bamako, Mali while at the same time, added Monrovia, Liberia as a new destination on its West African network. Flights will be operated out of the carrier's Liege hub using an MD11F.

Algeria and Ethiopia on Sunday June 30, signed a Declaration on Strategic Partnership aiming at boosting their existing, if currently tepid, bilateral relations. Under the declaration, the

countries will cooperate in various fields, namely health, cultural and economic, while an Algerian-Ethiopian Business Council will be set up to promote economic cooperation between the two countries. As a direct result, the possibility of establishing an air route between the two countries was also discussed.

While awaiting the delivery of its first three A330-200s, Tunisair (TU) director general, Mr Rabah Jrad, says his airline plans to enter into a codeshare deal with Libyan Airlines (LN) on long haul routes to Canada.

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.

Abu Dhabi-based carrier, Etihad (EY) has outlined further changes to its previously announced codeshare agreements with South African Airways (SA) and Kenya Airways (KQ). The additions are set to come into effect from July 1.

■ ETHIOPIA: US ExIm Bank okays $130million in financing to Ethiopian Airlines.

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) has authorized nearly USD130million in financing to support the export of General Electric-powered, Boeing long-range aircraft to Ethiopian Airlines (ET).

South African LCC, Mango (JE), the sister carrier to South African Airways, plans to lease two 737-800s from ACMI specialists, Safair (FA), before the end of the year, CEO Nico Bezuidenhout has said. Mango currently operates six B737-800s and a sole B737-300.

Nigeria's largest carrier, Arik Air (W3), is poised to spread its wings further both regionally and internationally with plans to at long last, take delivery of two A330-200s on lease from Irish aviation specialists, Pembroke Group, later in the month.

At a ceremony held in the United Arab Emirates recently, the UAE, represented by the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), signed an open skies agreement with the government of the Niger, bringing to 122 the number of fully liberal air service agreements the Gulf nation has with countries around the world.

The Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority (ECAA), the Ethiopian authority in-charge of regulating the local airline industry, has refused to renew the operating licences of 19 out of 31 private domestic operators and aviation-related businesses on the grounds that the companies have yet to launch operations of any form.

On the occasion of his airline taking delivery of its second B737-700 (MSN 30726 | 9XR-WK) on Friday 28 June, RwandAir's (WB) maverick CEO, John Mirenge, says he still plans to increase the fleet to at least seventeen aircraft by 2015 with plans to add "several African, Asian and Latin American countries" to its network.

Emirates (EK) will from October 27 incorporate a stop in Conakry, Guinea on its 4x weekly Dubai to Dakar, Senegal route. The service currently operates with an Airbus A340-300. The addition of Conakry takes the number of Emirates destinations in Africa to 24. A global producer of bauxite (aluminium ore), Guinea is fast attracting attention from international carriers aiming to tap into the country's growing premium-class market.

► FLEET UPDATE BULLETIN: Rwandair, FirstNation Airways, GEASA Guinea Ecuatorial Airlines, Libyan Airlines, Senegalese Air Force, Dana Air.

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: FirstNation Airways Nigeria (FRN), Libyan Airlines (LN), Rwandair (WB), GEASA Guinea Ecuatorial, the Senegalese Air Force, Dana Air Nigeria (9J).

Egyptair Express (MSE) are to launch four weekly flights between Benghazi, Libya and Alexandria with effect from July 2. The flights will operate using an Embraer E170.

Air Seychelles (HM), the national carrier of Seychelles, has selected Accelya Kale Solutions Limited, part of the Accelya Group, to handle the outsourcing of its Passenger Revenue Accounting, Cargo Revenue Accounting, Airmail Revenue Accounting and Miscellaneous (Non-Transport) Billing to Accelya Kale. The transactions are being processed on Accelya Kale’s proprietary platforms – REVERA and FinesseMBS.

Reports via Radio Mozambique state that during a General Meeting of Mozambique’s publicly owned national carrier, LAM - Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique (TM) held yesterday in Maputo, Mr Carlos Jeque was appointed to the chairmanship of the board of Directors.

Fresh from announcing its latest Financial Year results which entailed a USD92million loss, Kenya Airways (KQ) has announced further cost cutting measures aimed at returning the struggling carrier to the black within the next two years with news that it has renegotiated its aircraft MRO (Maintenance Repair Overhaul) contracts to its benefit.

Negotiations between Tunisia and the European Union (EU) regarding a possible Open Skies agreement are set to come to an end today amid reports that Tunisia's Minister of Transport, Abdelkrim Harouni, believes that national carrier, Tunisair (TU), was no longer in any danger

and could hold its own in an open market. Open skies is an air transport liberalization scheme in which any barriers of entry to participant countries’ airlines are reciprocally lifted as well as regulations on all forms of air transportation – cargo or passenger – within their sovereign borders.

Emirates (EK) will from 1 September switch the operational aircraft currently deployed on its Dubai to Cape Town and Dubai to Harare via Lusaka flights. According to AirlineRoute, Harare/Lusaka will switch from the current 777-300ER to the Airbus A340-300 while Cape Town will see flights EK772/773 switch from the A340-300 to a 777-300ER.

■ SOUTH SUDAN: First batch of SSCAA managers undergo training in Turkey.

Turkey has once more extended its hand to help develop the fledgling civil aviation bodies of nation states in the Horn of Africa, this time with a security training programme aimed at managers from the South Sudanese Civil Aviation Authority - SSCAA. The SSCAA was born in February this year.

The Nigerian Government , through its Aviation Ministry, has now completed plans to float a new national carrier to be named Nigeria One (not National One as previously reported).

Mozambique's Minister of Transport and Communications, Paulo Zucula, and Thailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra have met in Bangkok to discuss various issues pertaining to the development of civil aviation in the Southern African nation.

The Tanzanian Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) has contracted German ATC contractors, Comsoft, to deliver two modern technologies in the fields of air navigation and communication equipment, in order to increase flight safety in the region.

On the back of recent investments in South Africa and Nigeria, fastjet (FN) is reportedly in negotiations with as many as four airlines over possible partnerships, as the struggling LCC attempts to spread its wings across the continent, albeit circuitously.

The Nigerian Senate yesterday confirmed the appointment of Captain Fola Akikuotu as the new Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority(NCAA). Captain Akikuotu takes over from interim DG, Joyce Nkemakolam, appointed in March.

■ GHANA: CACC hands over preliminary designs for new Accra International Airport to government.

Ghanaian Minister of Transport, Ms Dzifa Attivor, says preliminary designs for Accra's new international airport have been presented to the Ghana Airports Company Limited. The project will be undertaken by the China Airports Construction Corporation (CACC) and is intended to transform Accra into a regional West African hub.

Thirteen airports in Nigeria - Abuja, Akure, Calabar, Ilorin, Jalingo, Jos, Kano, Lagos, Makurdi, Minna, Owerri, Port Harcourt and Uyo - have been singled out for the construction of perishable cargo terminals, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN has announced.

Hong Kong and Seychelles have announced the signing of a Bilateral Air Services Agreement

(BASA) which will provide the necessary legal framework for establishing direct air links between the two places. At present, Air Seychelles (HM) serves Hong Kong via Abu Dhabi under the auspices of a codeshare agreement.

Air Zimbabwe (UM) says direct Harare - London Gatwick flights, originally meant to launch from July 1 but now removed from the GDS, will now resume in November once their two 767-200ERs have been refurbished.

Royal Air Maroc (AT) has once more announced plans to begin flights between Casablanca and Nairobi, Kenya. In a statement made in Nairobi at the signing of various bilateral trade agreements between Morocco and Kenya, Moroccan Minister for Industry and Trade, Mr Abdelkader Amara, said RAM would introduce direct flights to Nairobi "by the end of the year."

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Monday, July 1, 2013

Friday, June 28, 2013

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Wednesday, June 26, 2013