Africa

British Airways, operated by Comair, is preparing to be the first airline to fly scheduled flights to St Helena.

St Helena Airport will be officially opening on 21st May, with the Governor, St Helenians and HRH The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex in attendance.

The World Bank has estimated Sub-Saharan Africa's growth at 3.7% for 2015, and 4.4 % and 4.8 % in 2016 and 2017.

Libyan Airlines has signed a five-year contract with Lufthansa Systems for Lido/mPilot all-in-one navigation solution.

FlySafair has confirmed it is not for sale after Comair announced an acquisition it is currently negotiating.

Travelport has appointed Nita Nagi as its regional manager for East Africa.

The first jet to land at St Helena Airport, operates by ExecuJet, was chartered by Air Safety Support International (ASSI) to bring its team to assess the airport.

Aviation already supports 6.9 million jobs and more than $80 billion in GDP across Africa, but research now shows that liberalisation will create opportunities for further significant employment growth and economic development to the tune of an extra 155,000 jobs and $1.3 billion in annual GDP.

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Secretary General Dr Fang Liu visited Egypt last week, where she conducted a range of discussions highlighting the importance of sustainable aviation development.

The Senegalese government has announced that Senegal Airlines will be replaced by a new airline in the next few weeks.

IATA has reported that African carriers have the strongest demand growth globally, with February traffic increasing 12.7% compared to 2015.

A report from industry body International Air Transport Association (IATA) shows that average global fares fell by more than ten percent in the 2015 calendar year compared to the year before. It is believed that this will continue as oil prices remain low.

The switch of US airports from John F Kennedy International to Newark Liberty International for the long-haul connection from Addis Ababa via Lomé in Togo, is a logical move and will allow the carrier to take advantage of the significant hub operation of Star Alliance partner, United Airlines at Newark.

Tanzania becomes Turkish Airlines' 50th destination in Africa with the brand new addition of three weekly return flights to Zanzibar.

Airports across Africa concerned with passenger screening can now partake in a course, formed out of collaboration between Airports Council International (ACI) and Green Light Limited.

Puma Energy has entered into Ghana's fuel and storage markets with a new storage terminal at Kotoka International Airport (KIA).

Ethiopian Airlines has begun its 70th anniversary celebrations by looking back at the carrier's successes over the years.

The Senegalese government is looking at a fleet of six Boeing narrowbody aircraft for Senegal Airlines.

Rovuma Airways is looking to start passenger and cargo charter flights across Mozambique and southern Africa.

National Airways has leased a Fokker 50 form Ethiopian Airlines to use on scheduled passenger flights.

Maluti Sky has started scheduled passengers operations, operating Maseru-Johannesburg O.R. Tambo five times a week.

Kenya Airways will cut 600 jobs as part of its turnaround programme, “Operation Pride”, after a KES25.7 billion (USD251 million) loss.

Fly CamInter's launch has been deferred for failure to comply with Cameroonian aviation regulations.

Safair has contracted Lufthansa Technik to provide total component support.

Ethiopian Airlines is set to take delivery of its first A350-900 next month, with 12 of the aircraft on order, and two on lease from AerCap.