Ethiopian Airlines appoints new Vice-President Flight Operations

 

Ethiopian Airlines has appointed Captain Yohannes Hailemariam as Vice-President Flight Operations effective 3 March 2014. Captain Yohannes is a graduate of Ethiopian Pilot Training School and has over 30 years experience with the airline. He joined Ethiopian in 1984, has served in various capacities, including Director Flying and Training as well as Captain B777 and Check Airman before assuming his new position.

 

Captain Yohannes is replacing Captain Desta Zeru, who left the position of Vice-President for personal reasons but remains a line pilot with the airline. Captain Yohannes will continue the work of his predecessor and the successful implementation of the Ethiopian fast, profitable and successful growth strategic roadmap, Vision 2025.

 

Source aviator.aero

Kenya Airways Countdown to New Fleet Begins

• KQ to receive six Dreamliner planes and one Boeing 777 in 2014
• Receipt of new aircraft demonstrates commitment to Project Mawingu

Kenya Airways fleet and route expansion plan- Project Mawingu, enters a new phase next month when the airline takes delivery of the first of its six Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes expected this year. The first 787 Dreamliner arrives on April 4th followed by its second B777-300ER in May. This will be followed by a receipt of five other of the State-of-the-Art Dreamliner planes within the course of the year, in a deliberate effort to increase the airlines capacity for long haul routes.

 

Kenya Airways Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Dr. Titus Naikuni, noted that the new fleet will enable the airline meet its customer expectations for more comfort and access to luxury facilities, while increasing the number of direct flights and frequencies to new and existing major destinations. “We are pleased to be using Dreamliner for our expansion plans, which will be both more environmentally friendly and more economic as we embrace the benefits of its design. The delivery of these exciting aircraft opens a new chapter and a very exciting time for the airline,” said Dr. Naikuni. He added, “Long haul routes to Paris, Amsterdam and Beijing are among the destinations earmarked for direct flights, as we continue exploring new markets that will be instrumental in helping us achieve our objective, to contribute towards the sustainable development of Africa”.

 

The delivery of the new set of aircrafts demonstrates commitment by the airline to its 10 year growth strategy "Project Mawingu", a huge investment in new aircraft, smarter cabins, superb lounges and new technologies to bring a more modern, comfortable and connected experience in the air and on the ground to its customers. “Introduction of direct flights to destinations like Paris and Amsterdam will boost key sectors of Kenya’s economy such as tourism and horticulture”, noted Dr. Naikuni. Upon arrival, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and B777-300ER will be subjected to the elaborate ‘entry into service’ programme, which will see pilots and cabin crew training taking place at Jomo Kenyatta. In addition to cutting-edge aesthetics, the Dreamliner also boasts of twenty per cent fuel efficiency compared to other long-distance aircrafts.

 

Source: CAPA

PICS: RwandAir's brand new Bombardier Q400 NextGen Arriving in Kigali

Rwanda enjoyed another proud moment yesterday when national airline RwandAir flew in their latest acquisition, a Bombardier Q400 NextGen. The new plane will soon begin commercial service, making regular appearances in Kamembe, RwandAir’s only domestic destination as well as regional destinations such as Entebbe and Bujumbura. RwandAir now operates 7 new aircraft, 2 B737-800NG, 2 B737-700NG, two Bombardier CRJ900 NextGen and now the Q400 NextGen, which makes it the operator of one of the youngest fleets in Africa. According to the CEO John Mirenge, after the launch of Douala which begins on the 30th of March, they will also add Abidjan in 2014 then look at new destinations such as Luanda, Harare and Lusaka for 2015.  

Fastjet still has eyes on South African Market

 

A domestic operation in South Africa is still on the cards for Tanzanian-based low-cost airline, Fastjet, with several more regional hubs being considered to grow intra-African routes. Capacity on the airline’s new Dar es Salaam – Lusaka service, launched last month, has been doubled with Chief Commercial Officer, Richard Bodin, commenting that plans to establish an independent base in Zambia have progressed well. "We are still very keen to establish an operation in Johannesburg," he added. "What we are currently working towards is to link our destinations with Johannesburg. Once we have established our base in Zambia, which we expect could be within the next three to six months, the very first route launched will be Johannesburg."

 

The long-term plan is to see different Fastjet-branded companies established across Africa. Ownership could be almost entirely locally-owned but "it is part of our quest to democratise air travel in Africa," Mr. Bodin maintained. He said the airline had no plans to syndicate its brand beyond the continent. And while new routes and hubs will be established in places of least resistance, a South African operation remains a priority. "We are in discussions with a few governments and companies which have seen the impact that affordable airfares have had.

 

"Zambia was chosen because obviously the market there offers great opportunities but also because the authorities there were very welcoming and keen. It is inevitable that countries with the most forward-thinking mentality are going to be the ones that attract us. And South Africa is certainly going to be a cornerstone," he added.

 

Source: iafrica

VIDEO: SAA Flying on in Leaner Times

PIC: Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787-800 & South African Airways Boeing 737-800

 

 

Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787-800 Dreamliner preparing for departure while a South African Airways 737-800 is seen in the distance taxiing to the runway. Picture of the day thanks to Airway Magazine.

Source: Airway Magazine

TAAG Angola Increases South Africa Routes from May 2014

 

TAAG Angola from May 2014 is increasing capacity to South Africa, with additional weekly service to Johannesburg, as well as switching to larger aircraft on selected Cape Town service.

 

Luanda – Cape Town eff 07MAY14 1 of 3 weekly service operates with 777-200ER, instead of 737-700

• DT579 LAD0650 – 1205CPT 73G 15
• DT579 LAD0650 – 1205CPT 772 3
• DT580 CPT1305 – 1625LAD 73G 15
• DT580 CPT1305 – 1625LAD 772 3

Luanda – Johannesburg eff 08MAY14 5th weekly service being added, on board 777-200ER

•  DT577 LAD0810 – 1230JNB 772 x46
• DT578 JNB1410 – 1630LAD 772 x46

Source: airlineroute.net

Europe-Africa airline seat capacity up less than 2% in March; Moroccan market growing fastest

 

According to the latest available airline schedule data from Innovata / Diio Mi, scheduled airline seat capacity on routes between Europe and Africa this March will be up a modest 1.7% compared with the same month in 2013. While this suggests stability in the market, a closer look at the airline and country pair level reveals considerable variations. Air France and Royal Air Maroc are the two leading airlines in the market based on weekly seats, both over 50% larger than the next biggest carrier, Tunisair. Eleven of the top 15 airlines are based in Europe, with Royal Air Maroc, Tunisair, Air Algerie and EGYPTAIR the leading African carriers. The fastest-growing among the top 15 is Ryanair, which has increased seat capacity by over 70%, and is now the sixth biggest carrier between Europe and Africa, beaten only by Air France and Turkish Airlines among European airlines.

 

If ASKs (Available Seat Kilometres) were analysed instead, Air France would still lead the way followed by British Airways and KLM, with South African Airways making an appearance in seventh place as a result of its long sector lengths. Among LCCs, easyJet would now be ahead of Ryanair, thanks to its Egyptian services.

 

 

As recently revealed, Morocco is reporting healthy traffic growth, partly thanks to its ‘Open-skies’ agreement with the EU. Morocco features in six of the top 15 country pairs, and all of them are showing growth compared with last year. Egypt has three country pairs in the top 15 and two of these are showing significant reductions in capacity; Germany is down 35%, and the UK is down 8%, reflecting some uncertainty regarding the current state of the Egyptian tourism market.

 

In terms of ASKs the UK-South Africa market is easily the biggest, 40% larger than even the France-Morocco market, despite being served by only three airlines (British Airways, South African Airways and Virgin Atlantic), and serving only two airport pairs (London Heathrow-Cape Town and London Heathrow-Johannesburg).

 

Source: anna.aero

RwandAir takes delivery of Bombardier Q400

 

African carrier RwandAir has taken delivery of a dual-class Bombardier Q400 NextGen turboprop from an order announced in April 2013. RwandAir deputy CEO Jean Paul Nyirubutama said the 67-seat Q400 NextGen aircraft “will position us well to offer increased capacity on popular routes that have been opened and serviced with our 37-seat Bombardier Dash 8-200, and is the right aircraft to develop our growing domestic and regional markets.”

 

The Kigali-based carrier’s fleet also includes four Boeing 737 series aircraft, one Bombardier Dash 8-200 turboprop and two new CRJ900 NextGen regional jets. RwandAir serves domestic destinations and many regional cities such as Nairobi, Entebbe, Mombasa, Bujumbura, Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro. The airline also serves Johannesburg, Dubai, Lagos, Libreville and Brazzaville. Service to Accra, Douala and Juba will start soon.

 

Source: ATW

Malawi cancels Kenya Airways 5th freedom rights

 

Kenya Airways long-standing service to the Malawian traveling public, offering a 5th freedom connection between Malawi and Zambia, was clearly worth little for the bureaucrats in Lilongwe, when they abruptly canceled these 5th freedom rights to give upstart Malawian Airlines the monopoly on the route, with instant suggestions this was done at the behest of Ethiopian Airlines. Ethiopian, which went into partnership with the Malawian government to re-launch a national airline after mismanaged Air Malawi had collapsed, at the time prompting desperate calls for assistance to Kenya Airways to offer a daily service to Lusaka, is thought to be the main driver behind that decision in their fight for supremacy in the African skies, in this case clearly a dirty fight as it now allows to charge fares at will to the detriment of passengers.

‘It is once again clear that the Yamoussoukro agreement is really worth little as African countries continue to disregard it with impunity,”’ commented an aviation source from Nairobi, when confirming that indeed effective today, March 1, no more flights between Malawi and Zambia will be operated by Kenya’s national airline. It was not immediately clear if Kenya Airways would continue to operate flights to Zambia via Malawi now or if they would “thin out” frequencies via Lilongwe in view of this latest development and perhaps increase either flights or use a larger aircraft to serve Lusaka out of Nairobi.

 

The airline did, however, issue a statement to passengers holding confirmed tickets on the Lilongwe to Lusaka route that they would be refunded in full for that coupon and that any inconvenience was highly regretted, and while diplomatically not saying clearly laying the blame on the door of the Malawian authorities.

 

Source: eturbonews