Category: Uncategorized

Addis Ababa named as Qatar Airways’ 20th destination in Africa

QATAR AIRWAYS NAMES ADDIS ABABA AS ITS 20TH AFRICAN DESTINATION With additional East Africa destinations still on hold – the announced flights to Mombasa and Zanzibar are still on ice over suspected traffic right issues – has Qatar Airways now announced that they will commence daily flights to Addis Ababa from 18th September this year. […]

Air Uganda adds third Bombardier CRJ 200 to fleet

AIR UGANDA GETS THIRD BOMBARDIER CRJ 200 Air Uganda yesterday received their third Bombardier CRJ 200 aircraft, leased from American aircraft leasing company GECAS. This brings the total fleet of Air Uganda to presently four, including one remaining MD 87 aircraft, the only one on the fleet with a two class Business and Economy layout. […]

Landslide cuts key road link from Kigali to Musanze

KEY HIGHWAY FROM KIGALI TO MUSANZE / RUHENGERI BLOCKED BY LANDSLIDES One of Rwanda’s most important traffic arteries, the highway from Kigali to Musanze, and from there on to Gisenyi, was yesterday completely blocked when a land slide took out half of the road at Gashenyi / Gakenke District. The road, hugely important for trade, […]

Mwambani evictions denounced by residents and human rights groups

THE ADVANCE OF THE CORRIDOR OF DESTRUCTION DISPLACES MWAMBANI RESIDENTS ‘These evictions are illegal but legalities have never stopped this government from doing something. Land acquisition procedures under the current law, the Land Act of 1999, have been ignored because no ESIA has been conducted. It is also illegal because the value government has put […]

Kenya Airways adds another flight to Maputo

KENYA AIRWAYS ADDS FOURTH FLIGHT TO MAPUTO Kenya Airways has announced the introduction of a fourth weekly flight, operated by KQ, between Nairobi and Maputo, the capital city of Mozambique. In addition does Kenya Airways codeshare two flights with LAM Mozambique, bringing the total connections per week to now 6. Information availed quotes Kenya Airways’ […]

Kenya Airways team up with Safaricom to use Bonga Points for tickets

KENYA AIRWAYS PARTNERS WITH SAFARICOM TO WIDEN BRAND LOYALTIES ‘This relationship of like-minded organisations demonstrates our collective desire to ensure that we give our customers the best experience through our unparalleled offerings. As we speak, there are over 9.5 billion Bonga Points on our system and we believe that our customers will be keen to […]

Kenya makes huge budget provisions for airports and highways

KENYA COMMITS MAJOR BUDGET ALLOCATION TO AIRPORT IMPROVEMENTS The government of President Uhuru Kenyatta has proposed to allocate 125 billion Kenya Shillings to the improvements of airports and road infrastructure as initial figures of the 2013/14 budget have become available. While the nominated cabinet secretaries, formerly known as ministers, are still awaiting confirmation from the […]

Precision Air – target of a smear campaign ?

PRECISION AIR TARGETED BY SMEAR CAMPAIGN? There are growing indications that the breaking news story yesterday morning in Tanzania’s Daily News about the alleged ban of Precision Air by Zanzibari authorities is both a fluke as well as very likely a targeted attempt, to turn public opinion against Tanzania’s only DSE listed airline. The airline […]

Kenya Airways joins Born Free Foundation at key fundraiser in Cape Town

KENYA AIRWAYS JOINS ANTI POACHING ALLIANCE In an effort to curb the rising tide of wildlife poaching in across the wildlife range countries of Africa has Kenya Airways recently formed a new partnership with the Born Free Foundation. The two organizations are teaming up to raise funds for a number of initiatives which contribute towards […]

Rwanda’s new concession policy expected to boost investments in tourism

NEW CONCESSION POLICY OPENS DOOR FOR MORE PARK INVESTMENTS A recently passed policy on the award of concessions for Rwanda’s national parks, in particular for Nyungwe Forest and Akagera, has now opened new opportunities for joint ventures or individual investments in tourism facilities for Rwanda’s private sector. Ms. Rica Rwigamba, who is head of department […]

Emirates rocks Kenyan market with rebates of up to 28 percent

EMIRATES OFFERS UP TO 28 PERCENT REBATES FOR TICKETS OUT OF NAIROBI Starting this morning and ending on the 04th of May will Emirates offer Kenyan travelers up to 28 percent rebates for tickets purchases to a number of destinations, Dubai itself included but most of course beyond into the airline’s global network. A source […]

The Pearl Guide launches Uganda’s first tourism application for iPhone

UGANDA LAUNCHES FIRST MOBILE GUIDE APP Following a flurry of app launches across the border in Kenya has Uganda now pulled level, when The Pearl Guide launched their own Uganda Guide App earlier this week. The comprehensive guide application can be downloaded on to iPhones from the ‘App Store’ and avails a wide range of […]

Emirates set to increase Bangkok and Hong Kong capacities

EMIRATES SET TO UP FAR EAST FREQUENCIES Emirates, Dubai’s award winning airline, has announced that come October travelers from the airline’s East Africa destinations Entebbe, Nairobi and Dar es Salaam will have more choices when flying via Dubai to Bangkok and Hong Kong. The airline already serves Bangkok 5 times a day now, including one […]

MCTA gives provisional green light to hotel levy by Mombasa County Government

MCTA GIVES CONDITIONAL OK TO PROPOSED HOTEL LEVY BY MOMBASA COUNTY The Chairman of MCTA, renowned hotelier Mohammed Hersi, has given a conditional agreement to the proposals floated by recently elected Governor Mombasa County Ali Hassan Joho, that a levy be introduced on hotel rates to finance better waste collection and provision of water and […]

Branson blames travel advisories for Kenya’s tourism downturn and Virgin’s departure

BRANSON BLAMES US AND UK FOREIGN OFFICES FOR KENYA’S TOURISM DOWNTURN In a hard hitting commentary has Sir Richard Branson heaped blame on the US State Department and the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office for branding Kenya as a dangerous destination and using language in their anti travel advisories which immediately invalidated any travel insurance, […]

Chef’s Delight Gala Dinner awards Kenya’s best culinary minds

CHEF’S DELIGHT AWARDS HONOUR KENYA’S BEST CULINARY MINDS The Chef’s Delight Award Dinner last weekend at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in the heart of Nairobi showcased Kenya’s culinary best and rewarded those who consistently turn freshly sourced ingredients from Kenya’s farms and ranches, lakes and sea into dishes rocking the palates of culinary gurus, […]

Sailing the Seychelles archipelago is the latest ‘in thing’

SAILING THE SEYCHELLES GAINS FRESH POPULARITY The Seychelles archipelago remains one of the most prestigious and sought after holiday destinations in the world with unparalleled natural splendor, daily accessibility by air from around the globe and an exclusive vacation experience for any discerning travelers fortunate enough to find themselves in this paradise. Lush tropical forests […]

Kenya Airways bags first international cargo award

KENYA AIRWAYS GAINS CARGO AWARD Last weekend saw Kenya Airways receive the Air Cargo News Global Service Award after being voted by the readers of Air Cargo News, a leading publication devoted to all matters pertaining to cargo shipments by air. Kenya Airways topped the Africa region and received this award for the first time […]

More discontent over World Travel Award campaign in Mauritius

MAURITIUS AWAIT OUTCOME OF ‘VOTE FOR KARL CAMPAIGN’ Following the closure of the voting for nominated participants are members of Mauritius’ tourism fraternity now waiting with bated breath how successful the pleas of MTPA chief Karl Mootoosamy were to make it into the price winning categories of the annual World Travel Awards which this year […]

Sudan gets Qatari cash for archaeological digs and restoration work

SUDAN’S NATIONAL MUSEUM AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES GET QATARI CASH INJECTION Information became available over the weekend that Qatar has offered a grant to The Republic of the Sudan worth 135 million US Dollars for a joint project, aimed to rehabilitate the Sudan National Museum and carry out infrastructure work on up to 100 archeological sites […]

Bad press for FastJet after major technical fault prompts long delays

IS THE MEDIA HONEYMOON OVER FOR FASTJET The honeymoon with the local media appears to be over for FastJet, as Tanzania’s leading newspaper Daily News yesterday broke a story of how airline executives were dealing, or rather not dealing with a major delay, which hit the flights of the airline on Saturday until mid day […]

Seychelles get security boost with arrival of new Dornier 228 surveillance aircraft

SEYCHELLES’ GET SECURITY BOOST WITH ARRIVAL OF BRAND NEW DORNIER 228 The Seychelles Air Force has taken delivery of a brand new Dornier 228 surveillance aircraft, which was donated to the country by India at the height of the fight against ocean terrorism, spread by Somalia’s religious extremists. The aircraft, equipped with the latest monitoring […]

Ethiopian Airlines first in putting the B787 back into the sky

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES FIRST TO PUT THE B787 DREAMLINER BACK INTO THE SKIES Ethiopian Airlines yesterday was the first carrier to put the B787 Dreamliner back into the air after the FAA had lifted their grounding order and mandated a so called fix for the aircraft’s troubled Lithium Ion battery systems through an Airworthiness Directive. As […]

Kenya Airways confident of getting their first B787 in March 2014

FIRST KENYA AIRWAYS DREAMLINER ON COURSE FOR MARCH 2014 DELIVERY 11 months and counting was the sentiment at Kenya Airways’ Embakasi headquarters, when Boeing yesterday reaffirmed that deliveries scheduled for the B787 Dreamliner will not be affected by the recent grounding of this revolutionary new aircraft. The delivery of the KQ order was repeatedly delayed […]

Air Uganda ups Juba flights to 15 per week

AIR UGANDA UPS JUBA FLIGHTS FROM MAY 08TH Effective 08th of May will Air Uganda, the Pearl of Africa’s quasi national airline, increase the number of flights between Entebbe and Juba, the capital of South Sudan, from the present 12 to 15 flights a week. Weekends, i.e. Saturday and Sunday, will get a second daily […]

Kenya Airways granted 5th freedom rights between Lilongwe and Lusaka

KENYA AIRWAYS SET TO COMMENCE NAIROBI – BLANTYRE FLIGHTS ON JUNE 03 In breaking news was it just confirmed to this correspondent that Kenya Airways has been granted fresh approval by the Malawi government to commence flights between Nairobi and Blantyre, effective 03rd of June this year. At the same time was Kenya Airways also […]

KWS and TANAPA set to conduct joint cross border game count again

KENYA AND TANZANIA CONDUCTING JOINT TRANSBOUNDARY GAME COUNT A regular conservation source from Arusha has sent details about a planned joint transboundary game count, going underway shortly to cover areas along the common border, like Amboseli / Kilimanjaro national parks and further into the Rift Valley along the Lake Magadi / Lake Natron areas. The […]

ATCNews: 

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang H. Thome is the founder and publisher of ATCNews, Eastern Africa’s leading aviation, tourism and conservation news blog of its kind. Wolfgang has nearly 50 years of experience in the tourism, aviation and conservation fields in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, covering all aspects of safari-, hotel- and air-operations. 

The Managing Editor of ATCNews is Mrs. Esther C. Goossens.

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