Pan-African low cost airline Fastjet has suspended its services between Julius Nyerere International Airport (DAR) in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Lilongwe International Airport (LLW) in Lilongwe in Malawi with with immediate effect. According to the airline, the major reason for withdrawing from Malawi is the depreciation of the Malawian currency (kwacha) and the unwillingness of Malawi's government to grant Fastjet an 8th freedom cabotage traffic right for flights between Lilongwe and Blantyre despite earlier assurances they would be granted.
28 January 2016
27 January 2016
Table Mountain National Park: Various trails closed due to fires!
South African National Parks (SANParks) has closed various trails in Cape Town's Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) due to recent fires that broke out in the Park.
- Red Hill Trail via Kleinplaas Dam to Slangkop is closed until the repairs to the trail post-fire can be affected
- Swartkopberg Trail is under repair and currently closed
- The Chapmans Peak footpath (on the Noordhoek side) is closed indefinitely
- The Riverwalk in Silvermine West is closed for construction and will reopen as soon as the construction work is complete. Silvermine West remains open to the public
25 January 2016
Ethiopia: Ethiopian Airlines to launch flights to New York!
Ethiopia's flag carrier, Ethiopian Airlines, has announced plans to launch flights to New York City (USA) by the end of June 2016. Flights between Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (ADD) in Addis Ababa and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) will depart Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday mornings, and will return from New York to Addis Ababa the same evening. Flights will make an intermediate stop in Lomé (Togo), home base for Ethiopian Airlines' partner ASKY Airlines, in both directions. Ethiopian Airlines will be deploying the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which is configured with 24 business class and 246 economy seats, all of which are equipped with on-demand video monitors featuring a variety of entertainment options.
- There will be connectivity beyond Addis Ababa to and from major economic and tourist destinations in East, Southern and Central Africa and the Middle East, including Nairobi (Kenya), Entebbe (Uganda), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Kigali (Rwanda), Khartoum (Sudan), Jeddah, and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia).
- There will be connectivity between New York and many cities in West Africa with Ethiopian Airlines' partner ASKY Airlines, via Lomé, including Lagos, Abidjan, Dakar, Libreville, Douala, N’djamena, Kinshasa, Bamako, Conakry, Ouagadougou, and Niamey.
22 January 2016
Swaziland: Swazi Airways set to launch operations in February 2016!
update (01 August 2017): According to the "Times of Swaziland", the official successor to Royal Swazi National Airlines, Swazi Airways, has officially closed down and retrenched 23 employees.
update (17 May 2016): According to a Project Status Report of Swazi Airways that was presented to the Portfolio Committee of Swaziland's Ministry of Public Works and Transport in April 2016, the airline is expected to make it's maiden flight in July 2016.
update (25 Feb 2016): Swaziland's new state-owned airline, Swazi Airways, has finally received its long awaited Boeing 737 aircraft and has presented to the Swaziland Civil Aviation Authority (SWACAA) on 24 Feb 2016. The aircraft is now getting checked for safety purposes and to determine its airworthiness. We'll keep you posted!
update (10 Feb 2016): The maiden flight of Swaziland's new state-owned airline, Swazi Airways, to Durban's King Shaka International Airport (DBN) has been canceled because the airline has no permit yet.
The official successor to Royal Swazi National Airlines, Swazi Airways, is set to commence scheduled passenger operations in the first week of February 2016. Swaziland's new state-owned airline will initially operate three (?) weekly flights between King Mswati-III International Airport (IATA: SHO) in Manzini and Durban's King Shaka International Airport (DBN) on board a Boeing 737-500. According to Swazi Airways's acting CEO Guillermo Barrios, additional destinations will include Cape Town International Airport (CPT) in Cape Town, Harare International Airport (HRE) in Harare and eventually Dubai International Airport (DBN) in Dubai as well as Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (BOM) in Mumbai. We'll keep you posted!
update (17 May 2016): According to a Project Status Report of Swazi Airways that was presented to the Portfolio Committee of Swaziland's Ministry of Public Works and Transport in April 2016, the airline is expected to make it's maiden flight in July 2016.
update (25 Feb 2016): Swaziland's new state-owned airline, Swazi Airways, has finally received its long awaited Boeing 737 aircraft and has presented to the Swaziland Civil Aviation Authority (SWACAA) on 24 Feb 2016. The aircraft is now getting checked for safety purposes and to determine its airworthiness. We'll keep you posted!
update (10 Feb 2016): The maiden flight of Swaziland's new state-owned airline, Swazi Airways, to Durban's King Shaka International Airport (DBN) has been canceled because the airline has no permit yet.
The official successor to Royal Swazi National Airlines, Swazi Airways, is set to commence scheduled passenger operations in the first week of February 2016. Swaziland's new state-owned airline will initially operate three (?) weekly flights between King Mswati-III International Airport (IATA: SHO) in Manzini and Durban's King Shaka International Airport (DBN) on board a Boeing 737-500. According to Swazi Airways's acting CEO Guillermo Barrios, additional destinations will include Cape Town International Airport (CPT) in Cape Town, Harare International Airport (HRE) in Harare and eventually Dubai International Airport (DBN) in Dubai as well as Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (BOM) in Mumbai. We'll keep you posted!
South Africa: 1175 rhinos killed by poachers in 2015!
According to South Africa's Environmental Affairs Minister Ednah Molewa, a total of 1175 rhinos got killed by poachers in South Africa in 2015. Of these, 826 were poached in the Kruger National Park. To put this into context: South Africa lost 333 rhinos to illegal poaching in 2010, 448 rhinos in 2011, 668 rhinos in 2012, 1004 rhinos in 2013 and 1215 rhinos in 2014.
During 2015, a total of 317 poachers were arrested for rhino poaching related offences in South Africa. Of these, 202 were arrested in the Kruger National Park and 115 in the area adjacent to Kruger. This is a marked increase in arrests from 258 in 2014. A total of 125 firearms were seized inside the Kruger National Park in 2015, and 63 just outside the Park – a total of 188 compared to the 148 in 2014.
According to a new census of the rhino population conducted by South African National Parks (SANParks) in 2015, Kruger National Park is home to between approximately 8 400 to 9 300 white rhinos.
During 2015, a total of 317 poachers were arrested for rhino poaching related offences in South Africa. Of these, 202 were arrested in the Kruger National Park and 115 in the area adjacent to Kruger. This is a marked increase in arrests from 258 in 2014. A total of 125 firearms were seized inside the Kruger National Park in 2015, and 63 just outside the Park – a total of 188 compared to the 148 in 2014.
According to a new census of the rhino population conducted by South African National Parks (SANParks) in 2015, Kruger National Park is home to between approximately 8 400 to 9 300 white rhinos.
21 January 2016
Proflight Zambia links up with South African Express!
Zambian airline Proflight Zambia and South African regional airline South African Express have signed a sales and purchase agreement, which allows customers of the two airlines to make joint Proflight Zambia-SA Express bookings. The agreement enables customers of Proflight Zambia to book flights to three destinations within South African Express' network (Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London) and customers of South African Express to book flights to seven of Proflight Zambia's destinations within Zambia (Lusaka, Ndola, Livingstone, Mfuwe, Solwezi, Kasama, Lower Zambezi) as well as to two of the airlines regional destinations Lilongwe in Malawi, Durban in South Africa).
20 January 2016
Emirates to increase capacity to Zambia and Zimbabwe!
The largest airline in the Middle East, Emirates, is set to increase capacity on its daily Dubai - Lusaka - Harare route. Starting 01 Feb 2016, the airline will be operating its flights to Zambia and Zimbabwe on board a larger Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. The aicraft will replace the current Airbus A340-300 and offer an additional 97 Economy Class seats per flight. The Boeing 777-300ER aircraft will have eight private suites in First Class, 42 lie-flat seats in Business Class and 310 spacious seats in Economy Class.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)