Month: March 2013

THE SILENT ASSAULT ON MABIRA CONTINUES UNDER THE NOSES OF NFA (Picture by Bernard Werber Officiel – given the title ‘The Forest Fights Back’ by this correspondent) This week the world celebrated the International Forest Day and, I guess true to form, I felt the time was right to dedicate some thoughts to the forests…

RESORT STAFF STAGE DEMONSTRATION OVER BEING LAID OFF Laid off in February due to low business recorded at their resort, some 18 staff of the St. Geran resort on Mauritius took to the streets to demonstrate over the allegedly poor deal they got, hoping for intervention from the labour ministry to either be reinstated or…

SERVICE MAGAZINE HAS READERS VOTE ON THEIR FAVOURITES Rwanda’s leading business magazine, The ServiceMag has just revealed the results of a customer satisfaction survey, where readers of the magazine had the opportunity to cast their own votes in a range of categories, expressing themselves and giving a fair insight into the level of service one…

FASTJET’S COURTSHIP FOR JETLINK THREATENED BY WINDING UP PETITION News are emerging from Nairobi that one of the aviation fuel supplies to grounded Jetlink has gone to court to file a winding up petition, in order to attempt recovery of outstanding money to the tune of over 160.000 US Dollars owed to them. A source…

AIR TANZANIA EYES COMOROS FLIGHTS Air Tanzania is reportedly eyeing Moroni / Comoros as their first international destination since relaunching operations last year, with March 25th reportedly the date for the inaugural flight, using their B737 for the route. A Dar es Salaam based source with insight into ATCL confirmed that the airline will launch…

TURKISH TO GO DAILY TO DAR A regular aviation source in Dar es Salaam has confirmed that Turkish Airlines will be moving from 5 flights a week to daily flights starting end of May this year. The airline is using a B737-900ER for the destination, connecting Tanzania – Turkish is also flying to Kilimanjaro on…

OL PEJETA DOES IT AGAIN Described by this correspondent as one of Kenya’s most complete safari experiences, all in one place, the Ol Pejeta Conservancy has been making its way back here with some frequency which left others to wonder what the deal is between us. Actually, the deal is in the innovations, the fresh…

SKAL KAMPALA ELECTS NEW LEADERSHIP Skal Kampala Chapter 611 has last night held the mandatory annual general meeting and after serving twice as Club President, has Kainembabazi Sabiti, in her professional standing the General Manager for Amadeus in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan, stepped down, making way for Miss Monalisa Aman to lead the…

SWISSPORT (T) PROFITS SHRINK BY 5 PERCENT AS COMPANY STRUGGLES WITH COST Information was received from an aviation source in Dar es Salaam that Swissport, Tanzania’s leading ground handling agency at the main airports of the country, has seen a profit reduction of some 5 percent at the end of their last financial year. The…

KENYA AIRWAYS INCREASES GUANGZHOU FLIGHTS TO DAILY FROM APRIL 01 The upcoming new summer schedule by Kenya Airways, aka The Pride of Africa will see a significant upping of flights to China’s Guangzhou, from presently 4 a week to daily departures, reflecting strong demand by travelers in both directions. The new schedule also introduces three…

FASTJET REPORTEDLY FILES LETTER OF INTENT WITH 1TIME LIQUIDATORS Seemingly unperturbed by the ongoing negative publicity for the airline, as a result of being entangled with former choice darling partner and now turned arch foe Fly540, has the management of FastJet now apparently filed a letter of intent with the liquidators of 1Time, a South…

HOLIDAY FAIR 2013 AIMS TO ATTRACT AND STIMULATE DOMESTIC TRAVEL The2013 edition of Kenya’s domestic travel exhibition at the Sarit Centre, Holidays 2013 Tourism Fair, is going underway today and will run until the 24th of March, giving Kenyans the opportunity to see the range of resorts, safari lodges and safari camps now available for…

UGANDA WILDLIFE AUTHORITY INTRODUCES CASHLESS SMART CARD Visits to any of Uganda’s ten national parks will soon be easier as the Uganda Wildlife Authority is putting final touches to the introduction of a cashless smart card based on chip technology, aimed at maximizing revenue collection and improving cash flow as a result of prepaid ‘loading’…

KENYA AIRWAYS PREPARES FOR WELCOME TO A BRAND NEW B777-300ER Kenya Airways’ implementation of Plan Mawingo remains on course with the upcoming delivery of another brand new B777-300ER, which will boost The Pride of Africa’s ability to add flight frequencies and eventually more destinations to their growing long haul network. Over the past year the…

MANGO LAUNCHES FLIGHTS BETWEEN JOHANNESBURG AND ZANZIBAR AfricaStay, a South Africa based tour operator, has yesterday launched nonstop charter flights between Johannesburg and Zanzibar, now operating every Tuesday and using a B737-800 with a configuration of 185 seats, all economy. The flights are reportedly a ‘replacement’ for the services operated until last year by now…

TOURISM BUSINESSES FEATURE HIGH IN SEYCHELLES ‘BEST HR PRACTICES’ AWARDS Last weekend saw the first ever recognition of best human resource management practices in the Seychelles, during a ceremony held at the Berjaya Beau Vallon Bay Resort and Casino. Award winners were picked from both private and public sector in three main categories, small and…

KENYA BUZZ LAUNCHES PHONE APP TO BE AVAILABLE ON THE GO Kenya’s premier leisure, food, entertainment and travel e-Guide for what’s to do, where to go and what to find where has just launch their phone application, which is now available to get the news on the go, the first such known app available for…

AIR UGANDA SET TO REVEAL NEW CEO ON APRIL 01 Usually well informed sources have indicated that after a 6 months gap at the top – the last CEO, one Kayle Haywood in early October 2012 prematurely walked out on his contract with the airline to take up a better paying position with FastJet in…

KENYA AIRWAYS PREPARES FOR DELIVERY OF FIRST CONVERTED B737-300 FREIGHTER Slightly later than initially expected will Kenya Airways receive the first of eventually four converted B737-300 cargo aircraft, which have been selected from their passenger fleet and which will be undergoing this transformation at a facility in China. With the arrival of more Embraer E190…

UGANDA NAMED 5TH BEST AT RECENT ITB ‘It was a bit disappointing to only get 5th, but then, it is still 5th for all of Africa’ said a participant to the recent ITB to this correspondent last weekend, when discussing the performance of the country at the world’s most important tourism trade show. Last year…

AVIATION, TOURISM AND CONSERVATION NEWS from Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean islands. A weekly roundup of breaking news, reports, travel stories and opinions by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang H. Thome You can get your daily breaking news updates instantly via Twitter by following @whthome, join me on www.facebook.com/WolfgangHThome where the articles also ‘cross load’ or…

NEW FERRY RESTORES NILE CROSSING 35 YEARS DOWN THE LINE The town of Kayunga on the western side of the River Nile is now once again connected with the town of Kamuli on the eastern side of the river, after a break of over 35 years. The only ferry, which provided a link between the…

MELIA HOTELS SAID TO EYE KENYA FOR EXPANSION IN AFRICA Spanish hotel and resort group Melia, already in East Africa with one property in Zanzibar, is said to be eyeing an entry in to the Kenyan market to expand their footprint in Africa. Melia currently is also present in Egypt with two resorts and Cape…