Africa

Oman Air has announced the appointment of Holiday Aviation as General Sales Agent (GSA) for South Africa.

Etihad Airways has reaffirmed its commitment to Nigeria with the announcement of two additional weekly flights on the popular Abu Dhabi–Lagos route, taking it to a daily service.

Afriqiyah is seeking the return of its two A320-200s currently leased out to Lithuanian ACMI/charter specialist Small Planet Airlines, reports ch-aviation.

The African Airlines Association (AFRAA) has informed all stakeholders that 23 African States has launched the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) at the side-lines of the 30th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly, that took place from 25 – 28 January 2018 at the Africa Union Commission Headquarters in Addis Ababa.

Ethiopian Airlines Group has launched a direct freighter flight from Bahir Dar to Liege, one of the largest Ethiopian flower importer destinations, carrying 45 tons of flowers on January 24, 2018.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) welcomes the launch of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) initiative by the African Union (AU) to open up Africa’s skies and improve intra-African air connectivity.

The plan, aimed at responding to rapidly increasing competition in the air travel sector, has been approved by Air Seychelles’ Supervisory Board and both shareholders, the Government of the Republic of Seychelles and Etihad Airways.

With the new iflyA380 iOS app, world travellers can book a flight aboard Airbus’ flagship A380 jetliner, take a 360° tour of the cabin ahead of time, then interact with the aircraft in augmented reality once en route to destinations.

EgyptAir was named as Africa's most punctual airport in OAG's annual punctuality league results which is drawn from a database of approximately 57 million flight records.

The Ariane 5 rocket carrying Yahsat's third satellite "Al Yah 3" is in position for launch from French Guiana. A successful launch will mean Yahsat's commercial Ka-band coverage will be extended to an additional 20 markets, reaching 60% of Africa's population and over 95% of Brazil's population.

The Ministry of Transport in the Republic of Congo has signed an order for two ARJ21-700s, reports ch-aviation.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) forecasts a trebling in the size of Angola's air transport market to 7.1 million passengers a year by 2036 at the present forecast annual growth rate of 6.7 per cent.

The Zimbabwean government is open to all forms of partnership with Air Zimbabwe and is even prepared to waive a cap on 49% foreign ownership to entice investors to the ailing state-owned carrier, reports ch-aviation.

The Algerian government has opened the country's air freight sector up to local private operators, reports ch-aviation.

Gulfstream Aerospace has announced that its super mid-size G280 recently completed three new city- pair speed records.

Ethiopian Airlines were among the awards at the aircraft interiors exhibition (AIME) held in Dubai this week.

Cape Town International Airport has opened a retail outlet at the airport’s domestic departures area that sells unique African merchandise, as part of the Goodbye Malaria initiative.

AviaDev, the African aviation development conference, will take place in Cape Town in June 2018.

Kenya Airways signed a deal at the MRO Middle East show in Dubai this week which it says will improve dispatch reliability and gain supply chain management skills to its staff.

GI Aviation has been selected to be Edese Doret industrial Design’s (EDID) exclusive representative within the Middle east and North Africa (MENA region).

The much-delayed Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) will be formally established in the coming days, but can it achieve its aims of creating a unified air transport market in Africa?

Rolls-Royce has won an order from aircraft lessor AerCap for Trent 1000 engines to power ten Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. The deal is valued at $450m at list prices. In addition, AerCap has options for a further five Trent 1000-powered 787s.

Egyptair has awarded a new cargo and mail handling contract to Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) in Amsterdam and Brussels, extending its relationship with WFS at both airports.

The last of one of the industry's best-selling business jets has been delivered.

Ethiopian Airlines has finalised shareholders agreement with the Government of Zambia for the re-launch of Zambia Airways. The Government of Zambia will be the majority shareholder with 55% and Ethiopian will have 45% stakes in the airline.