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For the most comprehensive daily news, covering aviation, travel and conservation topics across Eastern, Central and Southern Africa, but also the Indian Ocean islands, look no further.

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About the author:

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About ATC News Prof. Dr. Wolfgang H. Thome is the publisher of ATC News, Eastern Africa’s leading aviation, tourism and conservation news blog of its kind. Wolfgang has over 40 years of experience in the tourism, aviation and conservation fields in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, covering all aspects of safari operations, hotel operations and air operations. Since 1992 he resides in Uganda, previously living for 17 years in Kenya. https://atcnews.org


If you still want to know more about Prof. Dr. Wolfgang H. Thome, write to him via <wolfgang@atcnews-bd0326.ingress-baronn.ewp.live>, look him up via LinkedIn, follow him on Twitter via @whthome, find him on Facebook, Pinterest or simply Google him.

70 Responses

  1. Hi Wolfgang,
    I would like to draw your attention to the International Exhibition on Travel and Holidays scheduled for Abidjan in late November,a great forum to meet actors in the travel industry in Africa and beyond;great for exposure,networking and partnership .
    Kindly drop an e-mail at sam[at]smartbrandsmedia[dot]com for further details.
    Many Thanks and Best Regards

  2. AVI Biopharma, Inc.
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    A similar trial with AVI-6003 to treat infection with the Marburg virus is being conducted at West Coast Clinical Trials in Cypress, California.

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    Uganda: Deadly Ebola Virus Confirmed Near Capital
    By JOSH KRON
    Published: May 14, 2011
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    Preliminary tests have identified a case of hemorrhagic fever caused by the rare and deadly Ebola virus in central Uganda, a medical official said Friday. A young girl who died in a hospital in the town of Bombo, about 25 miles from the capital, Kampala, tested positive for the virus, said Dr. Nelson Mugisha, a member of the medical team working on the case. He said the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had helped the government with the initial diagnosis. The virus can lead to large outbreaks with high death rates.

  3. Hi Wolfgang, My name is Janos, I am a market reporter in London. I have read your report on the Tanzanian government’s plans to build mines in the natural reserve. I will read through your blog to read more.

      1. Wolfgang,

        Following your latest on the shenanigans between business and government of South Sudan,I think the international community should consider sponsoring a number of workshops for President Kiir and his top decision makers on how to run a country.

        Michael

  4. Hallo,

    Lets talk about the wildlife articles and how we may proceed to have them published on our publication Unique Homes Magazine. Lets talk on email please

  5. Hi

    I am a webmaster of Travel Website site.I want to be Link Partner with your sites.If you are interested contact me or send me your webmaster Emailid.

    Thank You

  6. Wolfgang, just found your site while searching for information about lack of Gulf Air flights to Nairobi. I have since read through a number of your posts and found them quite informative. As a regular holiday visitor of the Kenyan coastal region, I will be sure to visit your site often. Those of us who have been there know why East Africa should be one of the fastest growing tourist areas in the world. Keep up the great work.

    Dan

  7. Hi, i made a trip to Lagos Nigeria on 12th of October, i stayed 3 weeks at the SCOAN ( Synagogue Church Of All Nations). I met thousands of people from allover the world at this church who came for a divine purpose. Visitors throng SCOAN from as far as Ukraine, Canada, USA, Latvia, Slovakia, Russia, Uk, Netherlands, South Africa, Botswana Namibia, Cameroun, Kenya , Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, DR Congo, Burundi , Ghana, Benin, Ivory Coast and myself from Uganda – alone. Apparently 99% of the visitors discovered SCOAN and the incredible divine healing and deliverance after watching http://www.emannuel.tv or emannuel tv that can be viewed from any free to air decorder.

    Happy Tours Africa is now organising “Come Back Healed” tours to SCOAN in Nigeria. For more information please visit: http://happytoursug.com/prophet_tb_joshua_%20synagogue_church_of_all_nations_scoan

    If you will have any querries please contact us on: info@happytoursug.com, happytoursug@gmail.com

  8. Hi,

    This is Alex, I went through your site while surfing in Google, am very much impressed with your site’s unique information.

    I work as a content manager in many travel communities and love the opportunity to guest post for your readers. I would like to give you a unique article on any travel related theme. No duplication or copying of the article is done. I assure you that the article will be published only on your site.this site http://wolfganghthome.wordpress.com/

    The best part is I won’t be charging you a penny, but in return all I need is just one link within the article.

    Looking forward for a positive reply.

    Yours truly ,
    Alex

  9. Hi,
    Would you be interested in writing a guest blog post on our blog, http://www.womenstravelblog.com/ ? We are a PR 2 blog whose audience enjoys reading anything about travel (e.g. “Top 4 Places for Women Travelers”, “The fun and excitement of Solo Traveling”, “Turkey land of Holidays”, etc). And, of course, you’ll receive a FOLLOWED link to your blog or page of your choice. Please let me know if you’re interested. I think you’d be a great fit with our audience, and we’d also like to talk with you about other partnerships.I have few more travel sites and blogs for link exchange and article exchange if interested please feel free to contact me

    Talk to you soon ?

    Ratna Sharma
    ratna.fp@gmail.com

  10. Hi Wolfgang,
    A friend of mine, Sherrie Jehadian suggested I contact you. Do you know the latest info on what is happening with Fastjet’s operation?
    Many thanks,
    Rowena

  11. Hello Wolfgang,

    Will you kindly et us know about the recent Kenya, Rwanda Uganda insfrastructure project. So far there’s nothing out there (apart from generic news ) with details as to what the entire project will cost, who will finance and when are they looking to finish it.

    1. Right now I would see it as an expression of political intent as neither feasibility studies nor financing appear to be in place. That said, the so called Central Line in Tanzania, from Dar to Isaka and then on to Kigali, THAT is financed and the design studies are undertaken already.
      Uganda and Kenya, through RVR, the managers of Kenya and Uganda Railways, are due to go standard gauge but no time frame has been given for that yet.
      Hope this helps

      1. Hello Wolfgang,

        This is a tricky one. At one point, both Kenya & Uganda had agreed to build a joint railway line from Mombasa to Kampala. (Aside of RVR) that was later sold to the South African who then sold it to Egyptian Venture Capital firm (CITADEL CAPITAL)Then somehow, Kenyan officials torpedoed the deal when they signed a separate deal with a Chinese company. Somewhere along the line neither ended up building anything. Hopefully this time it will materialize. When you get mega contracts like this one, there’s bound to be a lot of shenanigans going on behind the scenes. Hopefully the new president will put a stop to it.
        Here’s part of it;

        http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/Kenya+China+quietly+strike+deal+on+modern+railway+line/-/2558/1514666/-/23uqqsz/-/index.html

        Meanwhile back in the State house in Kampala…..

        http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/Uganda-procurement-mess-threatens-regional-rail-project-/-/2558/1913700/-/3l4uybz/-/index.html

        Its close to impossible to know anything about these projects…so much so for open governments initiatives….

      2. Certainly much damage and confusion was caused by the internal wrangling of RVR shareholders which played out in the public domain. I acknowledge that RVR has made some progress in refurbishing the most accident prone section of the Mombasa to Nairobi track, which was responsible for about 70 percent of the line downtime. Still, their PR sucks frankly as they failed to get that bit of good news out while it was happening and only belatedly went public with the details. They also failed to make an impact on passenger transport, especially commuter traffic in and out of Nairobi. It will be interesting to watch how this will play out but going by the number of major rebuilds and new-builds, i.e. LAPSSET, the Isaka – Kigali section and upgrade of Dar – Isaka, and the added proposals to build a new Mombasa to Nairobi to Kampala rail line and the Tanga to Musoma rail line, only time will tell what international financier are willing to underwrite and what they will consider ‘unfeasible surplus’.
        Thanks for reading my blog.
        W.

  12. Hi Wolfgang,
    would like to ask you something concerning a possible documentary for German TV. Can’t find contact details here or maybe I’m just blind 🙂 Could you send me an email to touch base? That’d be great!
    Best regards from Joburg
    Dominik v. Eisenhart-Rothe

      1. Dear Sir

        I enjoy the Tourism news to the maximum. I have hence not wished or asked to unsubscribe. That could be an impersonator. Regards

        Paul

  13. Hi Wolfgang,

    I just dropped an email to your address. Hope it’s arrived, if not, perhaps you could let me know your personal contact details.

    Thanks,

    Group Travel Organiser magazine/www.discoveranimals.com

  14. Dear Wolfgang, you published a link to a story entitled: Canada opts not to block international trade in 76 endangered species. Unfortunately the story if full of errors and misrepresentations. It is, quite frankly a very poor article. This is very frustrating because as a result the story has little credibility with government and nothing will be fixed. I critiqued this story in detail in my own blog at: http://wp.me/p5kaxa-d6

    Regards,
    E. Cooper

  15. Hi Wolfgang,

    I’m an architecture student interested in doing my final graduation thesis project in Kidepo Valley National Park. I kindly request to for exchange of ideas with you.

    Kind regards

    Herbert

  16. Apologies for posting this here, but I wasn’t sure how better to get you the news…
    A new novel has recently been published on East Africa/Kenya during World War 1. James Willson (Guerrillas of Tsvao) helped the author with her battlefield research. The book, The Celebration Husband by Maya Alexandri, is timely with the 100th anniversary of the first military flights in Maktau etc. Details at https://tslpublications.wordpress.com/2015/10/14/new-book-the-celebration-husband-by-maya-alexandri/
    There is a special discount price for residents in Africa.
    Many thanks (and also for your useful and informative blog)
    Anne

  17. Jambojet to halt Lamu flights on January 12 over poor facilities

    November 23, 2015…. Jambojet has announced that it is suspending flights to Lamu starting January 12 next year owing to the constraints at the Manda airstrip, which it says has forced it to operate below capacity.

    According to Jambojet CEO Willem Hondius, the extension of the runway was finalized a month ago after a long delay but is yet to be opened for use thus continuing to limit the number of passengers it can fly in its aircraft. Jambojet, he added, can only presently carry less than half its capacity.

    “We are waiting for the authorities to finalize the necessary approvals to use the runway in full. As this may take long and it is not clear when this will be finalized, it is not economical for us to keep operating against these limitations,” said Hondius.

    He added that Jambojet was no longer booking flights from January 12 onwards. However, flights during the upcoming festive season are not affected. “We already have bookings for December and don’t want to disappoint passengers who planned their holiday trip a long time ago.”

    Besides the runway limitations, Jambojet cited the damaged apron, the platform where aircraft are parked. “We are not sure if the authorities will allow us to use our aircraft on full capacity on the apron which has potholes and in any case this may damage the aircraft,” said Hondius.

    Jambojet flies the Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft which carries 78 passengers on the Lamu route. It launched flights to the coastal archipelago famous as a tourist attraction in March and has since seen passenger numbers rise despite the capacity limitations. In August, the total number of passenger travelling to Lamu went up by 68% compared to the previous year and 88% in September.

    The move by Jambojet to suspend flights will certainly hurt the tourism sector considering that Lamu is an important attraction forming part of the coastal tourism circuit.

    Jambojet, the low cost brand of Kenya Airways recorded a 14 per cent jump in passenger numbers for the six months ended September compared to the same period last year, buoyed by the introduction of new routes including Lamu.

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