• The African Aviation Tribune •

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

■ MALAWI: Massive civil servant strike forces closure of Lilongwe & Blantyre airports.

As they had previously threatened, civil servants in Malawi have gone on strike over payrise demands, thus bringing the country to a virtual standstill with Lilongwe's Kamuzu International Airport, and later Blantyre's Chileka International Airport, having being forced to close.

AirlineRoute reports that Ethiopian Airlines (ET) will from June 2013 adjust its operations to West Africa with numerous equipment and frequency changes to come into effect.

South African Airways (SAA) acting board chairman Ms. Duduzile Myeni claims that the airline's latest turnaround plan, its ninth in 13 years, set to be presented on either March 28 or 2 April, will be "cutting edge" and will be more successful than its eight predecessors because it has been developed and "owned by our own people".

Rwanda and The Netherlands, on Wednesday 6 February, signed a Bilateral Air Services Agreement following a visit to Kigali by Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade & Development Cooperation, Lilianne Ploumen. In typically wooden diplomatic language, no explicit details about the contents of the BASA were revealed. The agreement, signed on behalf of Rwanda by Minister of Infrastructure, Albert Nsengiyumva, now accommodates "both countries’ current requirements and wishes" and formalizes the air connection between the two countries.

Mozambique's air traffic control communications network, under the control of Aeroportos de Moçambique (AdM), is to be ungraded with a VSATPlus 3 satellite communications network following the signing of a multi-phase contract between GECI, a worldwide high technology, engineering, E&M support and consulting group, and PolarSat Inc, a manufacturer of full mesh hubless VSAT modem technology.

Egyptian LCC, Air Cairo (SM) has announced the launch of new services between Egypt and Libya effective 1 March 2013. Alexandria - Tripoli will launch with two weekly flights, while Assuit - Tripoli will launch with a 1x weekly flight.

Italian carrier, Alitalia (AZ), is mulling the resumption of operations from Rome Fiumicino to Johannesburg, South Africa this September as part of the reorganization of its long haul route network. According to Alitalia, Johannesburg has become a "highly requested intercontinental destination".

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.

Eritrea's Nasair (UE) launched twice weekly flights from Asmara to the city of Aden in Yemen using an Airbus A320 on 2 February reports out of Yemen state.

Egyptian airline Nile Air (NP) has launched a new route between Alexandria and Kuwait City effective 14 February, according to Kuwait's General Directorate of Civil Aviation. The Head of the Flight Scheduling department at the Kuwaiti Aviation Authority, Emad Al-Sabti, said that Nile Air would start operating the new route twice-a-week.

► SOUTH AFRICA: See Pic of Air Zimbabwe's Airbus A320 in Johannesburg for maintenance checks.

One of Air Zimbabwe's two Airbus A320s (Z-WPM) has been spotted at Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport undergoing pre-entry-into-service checks. The aircraft is sporting a half finished livery (to put it mildly).

Following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ghanaian government last year, China Airports Construction Corporation (CACC) is set to begin construction of Accra's new International Airport, to be situated near Prampram in Dangbe-East District, near Accra. The move comes after CACC successfully concluded a feasibility study for the conceptual design for the new airport.

Luxembourg's Cargolux (CV) has announced that it is to add Port Harcourt in Nigeria as a new destination on its African network. The inaugural service, CV7122, will be operated on 5 March 2013 with Cargolux’s Boeing 747 freighter. (Editor's note - whether this is the 747-8 or 747-400F is unclear).

Contrary to the old adage that "No news is good news", the silence emanating from Windhoek regarding Air Namibia's (SW) new business plan, pitched to its sole shareholder, the Namibian Government, late last week, is starting to unsettle players in Namibia's tourism industry, already hit by the Eurozone crisis.

SA Airlink (4Z) will enhance its Kruger Mpumalanga - Livingstone, Zambia service with the introduction of Embraer ERJ 135 jets onto the route from 22 March 2013.

►► NIGERIA: AeroContractors to add "several" Dash 8-400s; to possibly retire B737-500s?

[UPDATE 18 FEBRUARY] CH-Aviation writes that Nigeria's Aero Contractors (AJ), also known as Aero, have announced plans to add several Bombardier Dash 8-400s to their fleet with an ex-Flybe (BE) Q400 (MSN 4079 | 5N- BPU) currently being painted for Aero at Norwich Airport in the UK.

Equato-Guinean carrier Cronos Airlines (C8) is set to take delivery of its first Airbus A320 (MSN 533 | YL-LCL) wet leased from Latvia ad-hoc charter specialists, smartLynx Airlines (6Y).

South Africa's National Transport Movement trade union has ended its 28 day strike but said it will seek an order from the South African Labour Court this week to compel South African Airways (SA) to grant it recognition rights.

Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), the current concessioner for Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal 2 (MMA2), has won a court case against the Nigerian Ministry of Aviation and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) over the concession of the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) terminal.

Work on the expansion of airport infrastructure and facilities at Pemba, a port and the capital of Cabo Delgado province in north eastern Mozambique, has commenced with completion expected in six months.

The Ugandan Government has been holding talks with the Aga Khan Foundation, the 100% shareholder for Meridiana Africa Airlines (Uganda) Limited, better known as Air Uganda (U7), over a possible buy in to the carrier. Government's move comes as calls for the establishment of a new reliable national carrier to replace that of the defunct Uganda Airlines (QU), grow louder as biting global oil prices and a lack of domestic competition increasingly push the cost of Ugandan exports beyond being internationally competitive.

AirlineRoute reports that Egyptair (MS) is to start daily flights from Cairo to Abidjan via Accra with effect from 1 June 2013. In addition, the Star Alliance carrier will also boost capacity to Kano, Nigeria and Tunis also effective 1 June.

■ TANZANIA: Fastjet claims parking, landing fees owed to TAA were run up by Don Smith's Fly540.

Fastjet (FN), the controversy-prone Tanzanian based LCC, has issued yet another statement refuting as "inaccurate" recent allegations in the Tanzanian press that it now owes the Tanzanian Airports Authority (TAA) TSh570'668'242.00 and USD95'360 in outstanding landing and parking charges.

Zambian cargo and passenger air charter service, Stabo Air, has launched a 1x weekly (Day 6) Boeing 757 operated cargo service between Dakar, Conakry and Banjul.

[UPDATE 17 FEBRUARY] American megacarrier United Airlines (UA) is to start a 5x weekly service between Houston, Texas and the Nigerian city of Lagos using its soon-to-be delivered Boeing 787 Dreamliner, effective 7 January 2013.

An ongoing jet fuel crisis caused by supply problems in Togo and exacerbated by lack of reserve at the national oil refinery in Tema, has compelled Ghana's domestic operators to suspend flights for the next three days (Sunday included), say reports out of Accra.

The Nigerian Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) has released its preliminary report on the Dana Air 9J-992 Accident which claimed over 160 lives in June last year, in addition to several other air accident enquiries dating back almost 10 years.

In preparation for the upcoming XXth United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly to be held in Victoria Falls in August this year, Emirates (EK) has applied to the Zambian Department of Civil Aviation for traffic rights to serve Livingstone directly.

► COTE D'IVOIRE: (Pic) Air Cote d'Ivoire to launch domestic network in coming months following arrival of E170 Jet.

Air Côte d'Ivoire (HF) has taken delivery of its Embraer 170 (MSN 307 | F-HBXH) wet-leased from Air France thereby supplementing the carrier's current fleet of two Airbus A319s.

Swaziland's Sikhuphe International Airport Terminal due to open in 2013.

Swaziland's controversial multi-million dollar Sikhuphe International Airport is set to start operations early next year (2013) according to the Principal Secretary in the Swazi Ministry of Economic Planning and Development, Bertram Stewart.

Unnamed military sources in Ethiopia state that the country has pioneered its own indigenous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) or drone. The UAVs have allegedly already performed a geophysical survey of Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam, a massive hydroelectric installation under construction on the Blue Nile.

Centrafricair o/a Karinou Airlines (KRN), a private carrier based out of the Central African Republic, is to boost its fleet with the arrival of a Boeing 737-300 due in April which will join its current lone Boeing 737-200ADV (MSN 23109 | TL-AEG) formerly with Lebanon's Med Airways.

■ SOUTH AFRICA: ACSA awards ADB Airfield Solutions contract to upgrade Cape Town Int'l runway lighting.

Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) has awarded a contract to US based airfield lighting specialists ADB Airfield Solutions to upgrade the AGL – Airfield Ground Lighting at Cape Town International Airport. The contract comes after ACSA awarded ADB a double contract in December 2012 to install a CAT III Normarc ILS at Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport's runway 21L in addition to installing added taxiway centreline lighting to support the airport’s move to a CAT III airfield.

Tanzania's Precision Air (PW) has announced the appointment of Ms Sauda S. Rajab to the position of Group Managing Director & CEO following the expiry of incumbent Alphonse Kioko's contract.

Sudan’s Transport Minister, Ahmed Babiker Nahar has signed a preliminary deal with Ukrainian aircraft manufacturer, Antonov, for the purchase of five Antonov aircraft for onward placement in Sudan Airways (SD). The move was precipitated by Sudan Airways' inability to access Western aircraft owing to US trade sanctions against Khartoum.

Leading on from our previous post, Malawi's Privatization Commission yesterday declared Ethiopian Airlines (ET) the winner of the 49% Foreign Shareholder stake up for grabs in a renewed Malawian national carrier, set to succeed the quasi-defunct Air Malawi (QM). The Ethiopian national carrier was named the preferred bidder for the position of strategic partner in the new airline, Air Malawi (2012) Limited, based on its "global experience and competitiveness".

► SEYCHELLES: Air Berlin, Air Seychelles sign codeshare deal.

airberlin(AB), Europe’s seventh largest airline, and Air Seychelles (HM), the national airline of the Seychelles, today signed a codeshare agreement which will see Air Seychelles’ HM code placed on four of airberlin’s daily return services between Abu Dhabi

and Berlin, Düsseldorf complementing the island carrier’s existing 26 weekly codeshare connections with Etihad Airways (AY) to Frankfurt, Munich and Düsseldorf.

Two carriers are looking to start domestic operations in Nigeria shortly: Azman Airlines and Jedair, a former charter airline that has reportedly entered into an ACMI deal with a Canadian firm.

Mauritian national carrier, Air Mauritius (MK), is beginning to reap the rewards of its envisioned 7 Step Recovery Plan amid reports that it has posted a USD9.6million (EUR6.4million) profit for Q3 (October-December) of its 2012/2013 Financial Year. However, overall results combined for Q1, Q2, Q3 show the carrier still made a substantive pre-tax loss of USD3.33million (EUR2.5 million).

South Africa's Comair Ltd, the owners of LCC Kulula (MN) the BA Comair franchise, has posted an after-tax profit of USD8.97million (ZAR79million) for H2 (July - December 2012) as revenue influx grew 20% on the same period in 2011.

Malawi's beleaguered national carrier, Air Malawi (QM), has officially ceased flights with 243 employees also having been laid off, as the airline is liquidated in preparation for the founding of a new privatized venture, Air Malawi 2012.

Tunisian national airline, Tunisair (TU), has announced it will start 3x weekly Tunis - Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso flights with a stop in Bamako, Mali effective 30 March 2013. Flights will operate with an Airbus A320. The new route is part of Tunisair's new model of targeting under served emerging markets in Sub Saharan Africa, with twenty new routes planned for in the coming 5 years.

South Africa's loss making parastatal, South African Airways (SA), is to renegotiate its deal with Airbus Industrie SAS signed 11 years ago for 20 Airbus A320s. The cash strapped national carrier is said to be looking to lease the aircraft, as opposed to buying them, thereby allowing SAA to recuperate pre-delivery payments it made to purchase the aircraft, bringing in some much needed liquidity into the struggling airline.

[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.

According to AirlineRoute, as per the 14FEB13 GDS timetable and inventory display, South African Airways (SA) is to adjust its operational aircraft in service to Lagos and Luanda, effective 31MAR13. The Airbus A340-300 aircraft will replace the A340-600 in service in the routes currently.

The Nigerien Government has announced the formation of a new national carrier, Niger Airways, in which Turkish Airlines (TK) will be a strategic partner. Amongst the carrier's first priorities will be the operation of flights between Niamey and the country's secondary cities - Agadez, Arlit, Dosso and Zinder in particular - and regional capitals.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Monday, February 18, 2013

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Swaziland's Sikhuphe International Airport Terminal due to open in 2013.

Friday, February 15, 2013

Thursday, February 14, 2013