► TANZANIA: Chaos as Air Tanzania 'sort of' resumes services and Fly540 TZ suddenly drops various domestic routes.

In what turned out to be a less than auspicious relaunch, Tanzanian national carrier Air Tanzania (TC) made a pig's breakfast of its debut on Friday morning, by canceling its Dar es Salaam to Mwanza via Kilimanjaro flight. A lone flight to Mwanza later in the evening on Friday served as the carrier's return to service, though news reports state that Dar es Salaam - Kilimanjaro flights will be postponed for roughly a week.

► BRAZIL: Ethiopian Airlines delays Sao Paulo launch over lousy slot times.

Ethiopian Airlines (ET), originally meant to have launched their first South American route of Addis Ababa - Sao Paulo, Brazil via Lome, Togo (3x weekly Boeing 787 from December 2012), have now postponed the launch of flights to March 2013 owing to "the inconvenient slot given the airline" by the Brazilian aviation authorities.

■ MADAGASCAR: Air Madagascar passes IOSA, EASA audits; wants to be struck off the EU No-Fly Ban List.

After a cabinet meeting which judged troubled national carrier, Air Madagascar (MD), to be on the path to recovery,  the Madagascar government will, before the end of October, send an inter-ministerial delegation to Brussels to lobby for the removal of national carrier, Air Madagascar (MD), from the EU's No Fly Ban List.

►► ZIMBABWE: SA Express launches Durban - Harare from October onwards.

[UPDATE 12 OCTOBER] Following on from its launch of direct Durban - Lusaka flights in July, South African regional carrier, SA Express (XZ), today announced in the Zimbabwean press that it will start a 3x weekly direct Durban, South Africa - Harare, Zimbabwe service using a Bombardier CRJ-200, effective 3 October 2012. 

■ LIBYA: Afriqiyah to remove "infamous 9s" livery in coming weeks.

Libyan carrier, Afriqiyah (8U), have announced via their official twitter account that their next aircraft to arrive in November, will arrive in the carrier's new colours; "the infamous 9s finally being removed." No previews of the new colour scheme have been revealed, though it is said to be "independence flag related."

■ SOUTH AFRICA: 1Time to retire two aircraft and shed 15% of workforce as part of cost cutting measures.

As part of its fight to remain afloat financially, troubled South African LCC, 1Time (T6), has announced that it is to cut its fleet down from 10 to 8 aircraft with plans to trim its workforce down by 15%.

■ GHANA: Government signs MoU with Chinese firm for feasibility study on new Accra airport near Prampram.

Ghana's Minister of Transport, Alhaji Collins Dauda, yesterday announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the China Airports Construction Corporation (CACC) to undertake a feasibility study for a conceptual design for a new international airport to be situated near Prampram in Dangbe-East District, near Accra.

► MOROCCO: Mauritanian Airlines International Boeing 737-700 suffers second technical glitch in three weeks.

A Boeing 737-700 (MSN 34263 | 5T-CLC), leased from Aviation Capital Group and operated by Mauritanian Airlines International (L6), the national airline of Mauritania, on Tuesday, suffered yet another technical glitch; its second in 3 weeks. 

► FRANCE: Air Arabia Maroc launches Casablanca - Toulouse from late October.

Moroccan LCC, Air Arabia Maroc (3O), will from 28 October 2012, start once weekly Sunday flights between Casablanca, Morocco and Toulouse, France, which will increase to a twice weekly service (an added Thursday flight) from mid-November onwards.

►► SWEDEN: Ethiopian Airlines incorporating Cairo stop on Stockholm flights.

Ethiopian Airlines (ET) is currently incorporating a stopover in Cairo, Egypt on its previously direct Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - Stockholm, Sweden flights.

The route change has been in vigour since 10 August 2012 and will last until 10 September 2012, though the GDS has it until late October.

► TANZANIA: FastJet to launch with 3x daily Dar es Salaam - Nairobi flights.

FastJet have announced their debut route; that of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to Nairobi, Kenya and return. The route's debut flight will operate as a return VIP flight with 3x daily service between the two East African capitals to follow. No specific date, however, was given for the start of operations, though recent news reports have hinted at a possible November date launch.

■ FRANCE: Egyptair selects Messier-Bugatti-Dowty to overhaul Airbus A320/A340 landing gears.

Egyptair Maintenance & Engineering,  a subsidiary of Egypt's national carrier Egyptair (MS), has selected Messier-Bugatti-Dowty for the exchange and overhaul of landing gear on ten of Egyptair's Airbus A320s, and for the centre landing gears on three of Egyptair's remaining Airbus A340s, prior to their phasing out.

■ UNITED STATES: Air Namibia awards $4million contract to JBT AeroTech for Airport Ground Support Equipment.

As part of its long term expansion strategy, Namibian national carrier, Air Namibia (SW), has awarded a contract worth USD4million to Chicago-based firm JBT AeroTech, to supply it with new airport ground equipment.

► NIGERIA: IRS Airlines Fokker 100 collides with FAAN truck whilst taxiing at Lagos; no casualties.

In an incident that strongly resembles an Arik Air B737's run-in with the wing tip of a parked Nigerian Air Force C130 Hercules aircraft at Jos Airport in July, an IRS Airlines (LVB) Fokker 100, taxiing for departure as flight LVB3306 from Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos to Kano via Abuja (Nigeria), this morning (07h48L) hit a truck belonging to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). 

■ SEYCHELLES: Etihad partnership starting to pay off as Air Seychelles quarterly revenues up 23%.

Air Seychelles (HM) has announced Q3 revenues of USD$13.8 million, up 23% on Q2, as the airline's restructuring programme, initiated in February of this year, took effect in the drive towards profitability for 2012.  The growth in revenues was led by a 51% quarter-on-quarter increase in passengers, up from 53,066 to 79,887, as seat factors rose from 43% to 60%.  Air Seychelles’ management team is confident that the airline will achieve its target of profitability in 2012, marking a major turnaround after several years of heavy losses.

► 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. 

► SUDAN: Azza Air Transport AN-12 crashes near Khartoum, 15 dead.

An Azza Air Transport (AZZ) Antonov AN-12BP (*confirmed MSN 402010 | ST-ASA) operating a flight for the Sudanese military, has crashed 40 kilometers west of Omdurman, as it was climbing out of Khartoum International Airport en-route to El Fasher, capital of North Darfur.

► SOUTH KOREA: Kenya Airways signs codeshare deal with Korean Air.

Kenya Airways (KQ), has announced the signing of a codeshare agreement signed with fellow SkyTeam member, South Korea's Korean Air (KE), thereby allowing the Kenyan national carrier to offer direct return flights between Seoul and Nairobi.

► ITALY: Algeria's Tassili Airlines launches Hassi Messaoud to Rome-Fiumicino service.

Algeria's Tassili Airlines (SF), last week, launched once weekly direct flights between Hassi Messaoud in south-east Algeria, and Rome Fiumicino, Italy using a Boeing 737-800. This new route marks Tassili's first foray into the regional market, having been an exclusively domestic Algerian charter operator until now.

► GERMANY: Ethiopian to reduce Frankfurt service to 6x weekly from late October 'til late November.

Ethiopian Airlines (ET) will temporarily reduce its Boeing 767-300 operated Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - Frankfurt, Germany service from daily to 6x weekly, effective between 28 October 2012 'til 25 November 2012.