Africa

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has signed an agreement with the Civil Aviation Authority of San Marino (SM-CAA) allowing aircraft registered in San Marino to be operated for commercial purposes by a Nigerian Airlines/AOC holder.

Qatar Airways and Direct Maintenance have extended their decade long partnership in order to cover line support of the airline in Entebbe.

African air navigation organisation ASECNA is to co-operate with traffic management venture Aireon to explore space-based surveillance for remote regions, reports Flightglobal.

Malawian Airlines, which is 49% owned by Ethiopian Airlines, plans to add several new destinations to its route network effective 1st June.

Boeing employees in Renton, Washington, have started building the first 737 MAX on schedule.

Transport finance specialist, CIT Group, which leases and finances aircraft for airlines and business aviation operators, has placed a firm order for five more A321ceo aircraft, doubling its most recent commitment for five A321ceo's made at last year's Farnborough International Airshow.

Astral Aviation is back in Kenya celebrating the award as Africa's “All Cargo” carrier of the year to kick off its 15th anniversary.

CETel and satellite operator ARABSAT are stepping into the extended C-band with their jointly built earth station, offering unprecedented business expansion possibilities with the launch of teleport facilities, network and broadband services as well as solution design across the whole African continent, Middle East, Europe and Central Asia on board ARABSATs state-of-the-art satellite Arabsat-5C on 20 degrees East.

Middle East and Africa leads all regions in new helicopter purchase rates, with up to 32 percent of respondent fleets slated for turnover with a new helicopter replacement or addition according to Honeywell Aerospace in its 17th annual turbine-powered civil helicopter purchasing outlook.

Global air freight markets showed a 3.2% expansion in freight tonne kilometers (FTKs) in January 2015 compared to the same month last year according to the latest figures from IATA.

Airbus Helicopters today presented its all-new H160 all-composite civil helicopter and the first product introduced with the Airbus Helicopters corporate identity and its new numbering designation.

ExecuJet Aviation Group is expanding the company's managed fleet in Africa with the addition of a Falcon 900B, Hawker 800 and Bombardier Challenger 604.

Symbiotics Ltd, part of the Resource Group, has formed a working partnership with Ascenso, a South African aviation recruitment company to provide a suite of computerised applicant screening tools, known as Adapt that will be used throughout South Africa and across the region.

Every month Routesonline provides an update on the current schedules of five latest aircraft programmes, highlighting the routes the types are being deployed upon.

Mauritius’ main international airport, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport won or came second in three award categories at the ASI Air Service Quality (ASQ) awards for 2014.

Airports Company South Africa, owner and manager of South Africa’s nine principal airports has signed a cooperation agreement with Mitteldeutsche Airport Holding during the Air Cargo Africa Conference and Exhibition for 2015.

O.R. Tambo International Airport walked away with the title “African Airport of the year” at an awards ceremony held as part of Air Cargo Africa 2015 in Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg yesterday evening.

DHL Global Forwarding scooped the award for Africa's International Freight Forwarder of the Year for the 3rd time. In a ceremony at the Air Cargo Africa event in South Africa yesterday.

South Africa's AVIC International Flight Training Academy (AIFA) at George has been stepping up its fleet as it has welcomed an increasingly international cohort of students from Asia and across Africa.

Nigeria's Caverton Helicopters has completed a deal with Waypoint Leasing for the lease of one new AgustaWestland AW139 and one Bell 412EP. The lease agreement is the first for the Irish lessor in West Africa.

Bombardier postponed the first flight of its CS300 aircraft, due to unfavorable weather conditions at Mirabel, Montreal today.

With the reducing cost of oil resulting in even lower aviation fuel prices, the overall airline direct operating cost breakdown is changing.

African airlines are believed to be at the front of the queue to purchase ten of the first manufactured models of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner currently parked at Boeing's Everitt Factory near Seattle.

Effective security technologies and systems are still in demand among airport operators as increasing passenger volumes place new strains on existing infrastructure, said a report issued today.

Emirates is increasing its capacity on the route to Kenya's capital, Nairobi, when it switches from the current Airbus A330-200 aircraft used on one of the two daily services to a larger Boeing 777-300 ER from 1 May.