South Korea to open new embassies in Botswana and Zambia!

The Government of the Republic of Korea ("South Korea") has announced that it will open new diplomatic missions in Botswana and Zambia in 2024. A new embassy branch will be built in Botswana, while the new embassy in Zambia will be established in accordance with the principle of reciprocity as the country already has an embassy in South Korea's capital Seoul.
The establishment of the new embassies in Botswana and Zambia is part of South Korea's plan to open new diplomatic missions in 12 countries next year in an effort to expand its diplomatic capabilities and functions. The remaining ten countries are the Marshall Islands in the central Pacific Ocean, Sierra Leone in Africa, Suriname and Jamaica in Central and South America, Estonia, Luxembourg, Lithuania and Slovenia in Europe as well as Armenia and Georgia in Southwest Asia.

Zambia waives tourist visa requirements for several countries! [update]

update (09 January 2023): According to a statutory instrument issued by the Zambian Government on 02 November 2022, the following 43 countries are on the list of visa-exempt countries. Visa-exempt nationals are allowed to remain in Zambia up to 30 days with an option to extend up to 90 days. The following countries are exempt from visa requirements:
Australia, Canada, Norway, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, US, UK, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and China

The Zambia Tourism Agency announced on 30 September 2022 that Zambia has waived tourist visa requirements for citizens from several countries in a bid to boost tourism. Effective since 01 October 2022, citizens of the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada, Norway, Australia, China, South Korea, Gulf States and the European Union no longer need a tourist visa to visit Zambia. 

Coronavirus outbreak: South Africa to close borders to all citizens from high-risk countries!

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared the Coronavirus outbreak a national disaster and announced a raft of unprecedented interventions to curb the spread of COVID-19 in South Africa. These include the closing of 35 ports of entry and imposing a travel ban on foreign nationals from countries hardest hit by the Coronavirus pandemic. The travel ban will be imposed from 18 March 2020 on foreign citizens who come from Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Germany, United States, Germany, United Kingdom and China. Additionally, any foreign national who has visited any of the high risk countries in the past 20 days will be denied a visa. South African citizens returning from these countries will be subjected to testing and self-isolation or quarantine on return. Travellers from medium risk countries such as Portugal, Hong Kong and Singapore will be required to undergo high intensity screening. All travellers who have entered South Africa from high risk countries since mid-February will be required to hand themselves over for testing. We'll keep you updated!

Ethiopian Airlines to increase flights between Addis Ababa - Seoul - Tokyo!

Ethiopia's flag carrier, Ethiopian Airlines, will increase flights between Bole International Airport (ADD) in Addis Ababa and Narita International Airport (NRT) in Tokyo, Japan, via Incheon International Airport (ICN) in Seoul, South Korea. Effective 17 June 2019, the airline will offer five weekly return flights on board a Boeing 787-8 to South Korea and Japan. The additional flight will be operated on Mondays.

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South Africa Airways expands codeshare agreement with Etihad Airways!

According to aviation specialists airlineroute.net, South African Airways (SAA) is set to expand its codeshare agreement with Etihad Airways. South Africa's flag carrier will add its code "SA" to nine new routes operated by Etihad Airways from 01 Feb 2015 (7 routes) and from 06 Feb 2015 (2 routes). Earlier in January 2015 (21 Jan 2015), the SAA already started to display its code on Etihad Airways' flights between Abu Dhabi's Abu Dhabi International Airport and Incheon International Airport in Seoul, South Korea. 

from 01 Feb 2015:

• Abu Dhabi – Dublin (Ireland)
• Abu Dhabi – Bangalore (India)
• Abu Dhabi – Chennai (India)
• Abu Dhabi – Delhi (India)
• Abu Dhabi – Hyderabad (India)
• Abu Dhabi – Mumbai (India)
• Abu Dhabi – Thiruvananthapuram (India)

from 06 Feb 2015:

• Abu Dhabi – Beijing (China) – Nagoya (Japan)
• Abu Dhabi – Tokyo Narita (Japan)

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Ethiopian Airlines to launch flights to Seoul (South Korea)

Awesome news for Korean travellers looking at travelling in Africa and Africans looking forward flying to South Korea! Ethiopia's flag carrier, Ethiopian Airlines, will become the first African airline to operate scheduled flights to Seoul, the capital of the Republic of South Korea. Effective 18 July 2013, the airline will operate four weekly flights between Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (IATA: ADD) in Addis Ababa and Incheon International Airport (IATA: ICN) in Seoul on board the B787 Dreamliner.
With the new flights to Seoul, Ethiopian Airlines will be able to offer connections through its main hub in Addis Ababa to passengers travelling between South Korea and various cities in Africa such as Johannesburg (South Africa), Nairobi (Kenya) and Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania). Seoul will be Ethiopian Airlines' 73rd international destination.

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Ethiopian Airlines to launch flights to Seoul (South Korea)

Great news for all South Koreans. Ethiopia's flag carrier, Ethiopian Airlines, will commence flights between Addis Ababa and Incheon International Airport in Seoul, South Korea. From 18 June 2013 the airline will offer four weekly flights between the two destinations.
With this new flight, Seoul will be connected to dozens of cities in Africa via Ethiopian Airlines' main hub at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa. Convenient connections will be available to and from major African cities such as Johannesburg (South Africa), Nairobi (Kenya), Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania), Lagos (Nigeria) and Accra (Ghana).
Seoul will be Ethiopian Airlines' 73rd international destination.

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Kenya Airways KQ signs codeshare agreement with Korean Air

Geat news for Korean travellers planning to visit Kenya and East Africa. Korean Air, both the flag carrier and the largest airline of South Korea, and Kenya's national airline, Kenya Airways, have signed a codeshare agreement.
The flights from Seoul in South Korea to Nairobi (Kenya) will take off every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday night at 20:45, arriving in Nairobi the next morning at 05:05, so that travellers have a convenient connection to the entire range of domestic, regional and international flights via Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO).
Flights from Nairobi to Seoul will depart every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday and at 10:30 in the morning, arriving at Incheon International Airport (ICN) in Seoul at 04:40 the next morning.

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Korean Air to launch direct flights between Seoul & Nairobi

Korea's largest airline, Korean Air, will introduce its first nonstop link to East Africa on a scheduled basis. From 21 June 2012 the airline will offer three weekly flights between Seoul Incheon <> Nairobi in Kenya. Korea's flag carrier will operate an Airbus A330-200 aircraft on the route.
The flying time for the Seoul > Nairobi leg is 13:15hrs (14hrs from September 2012), so that this route will become the presently longest scheduled nonstop flight to be operated on board an Airbus A330-200 aircraft.
Korean Air is already code-sharing on fellow SkyTeam carrier Kenya Airways' flights between Nairobi and Bangkok, providing a quick connection to Seoul on the other four days of the week.

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Ethiopian Airlines signs code share agreement with Asiana Airlines

Ethiopia's flag carrier Ethiopian Airlines, one of Africa's fastest growing airlines, has signed a code share agreement with the award winning South Korean airline Asiana Airlines. The new partnership between the two Star Alliance members will provide passengers with more flight options and better connections between both Africa and Asia. The airlines will cooperate on code share flights between Seoul, Hong Kong and Addis Ababa. The four weekly code share flights have already commenced as of 29 August 2011.
Asiana Airlines is one of South Korea's two major airlines, along with Korean Air. Asiana  has its domestic hub at Gimpo International Airport and its international hub at Incheon International Airport in Seoul. Asiana is a member of the Star Alliance and currently operates 14 domestic and 85 international passenger routes.