Ethiopian to launch Ndola and Blantyre by end March
ETHIOPIAN ADDS NDOLA AND BLANTYRE Information was received from a source in Addis Ababa that Ethiopian Airlines will launch 3 times a week flights to Ndola / Zambia combined with Blantyre / Malawi, effective March 31st. The addition of the two Southern African destinations will cement Ethiopian’s present lead over closest continental rival, in terms […]
FastJet’s woes as seen through other eyes
As the flood of unsolicited offensive and threatening mails and foulmouthed comments on my blog site continue to flow in, attributed by a few misguided individuals who clearly have their own agenda or speak for their masters on either side of the aisle, it is always refreshing to see the opinions about FastJet from other […]
PMSD ‘forgives’ Tourism Minister Michael Sik Yuen his ‘misbehaviour’
SACKING OF MTPA CHAIRMAN CALLED ‘MISBEHAVIOUR’ BY MINISTER’S PARTY The recent sacking of Robert Desvaux from his position as Chairman of the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority by the island’s Minister of Tourism Michael Sik Yuen has been described by the party spokesperson as the minister having ‘misbehaved [but] after presenting his excuses everything has come […]
Another crash in Goma with at least 3 dozen dead worsens Congo’s aviation record
ANOTHER PLANE CRASH IN GOMA SHAKES CONGO TRAVELERS A Fokker 50 aircraft, owned and operated by Congolese private airline CAA – Compagnie Africaine d’Aviation crashed this afternoon while attempting to land in Goma after failing to make it to the runway, killing at least 36 crew and passengers on board with four seriously injured pulled […]
Interview with the Seychelles Minister for Tourism and Culture, the Hon. Alain St. Ange
Read the lastest updates about all aspects of Seychelles tourism from the proverbial horse’s mouth in a fresh and hot off the press interview. INTERVIEW WITH SEYCHELLES’ MINISTER FOR TOURISM AND CULTURE ALAIN ST. ANGE Published here is an interview held with the Minister at his offices in Victoria: Dear Minister St. Ange, good day […]
Kenya goes to the polls as optimism rules for peaceful conduct
THE BATTLE OF THE SONS RELOADED 50 YEARS DOWN THE LINE – IN PEACE THIS TIME Kenya’s long awaited general election is underway since 7 am local time and while there are 6 levels of elected offices to decide about, all eyes are today on the two main protagonists, who renew the battle of their […]
RwandAir – turning dreams into reality
RWANDAIR – WHERE DREAM HAS TURNED INTO REALITY While in Rwanda last week news emerged from the corridors of RwandAir, that Accra / Ghana will become the airline’s 15th destination by latest June this year, adding yet another West African gateway to Lagos, Libreville and Brazzaville. The move shows that the expansion drive of Rwanda’s […]
Air Seychelles and STB sign extensive new MoU
SEYCHELLES TOURISM BOARD AND AIR SEYCHELLES SIGN MOU Last Friday saw the long in the making signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding between the Seychelles Tourism Board and national airline Air Seychelles. CEO’s Mrs. Elsia Grandcourt and Cramer Ball put pen to paper to ink the most extensive agreement signed todate between the two […]
Weekly roundup of news from Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean region, First edition March 2013
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 […]
Mauritius tourism arrivals in 2012 just fractionally higher than in 2011
MAURITIUS TOURISM ARRIVALS FOR 2012 DESCRIBED AS ‘FLAT’ Unfavourable market conditions in the main producer markets of France, Italy, the UK and Germany were cited as reasons for the flat performance in terms of tourism arrivals, as Mauritius announced the 2012 end year figures yesterday. Arrival grew by a token 0.1 percent from 964.642 in […]
Destination Rwanda – So much more than just gorillas
DESTINATION RWANDA – SO MUCH MORE THAN ‘JUST GORILLAS’ (The view to Paradis Malahide’s own private island across the water from the resort … idyllic, tranquil, serene) A return to The Land of a Thousand Hills, aka Rwanda, is always an eye opener and unlike many other visitors, who come as one time tourists, or […]
Kenyans dismiss suggestions the migration would leave out the Mara
KENYAN WILDLIFE EXPERTS DISMISS SUGGESTIONS OF ‘MISSING MIGRATION’ AS NONSENSE Two Kenyan wildlife and conservation experts have dismissed with prejudiceas one of them put it in an overnight communication, suggestions floated in the Tanzanian media that the annual migration may not reach Kenya’s Masai Mara later this year. ‘I have no idea what the quoted […]
Emirates announces second A380 frequency to Sydney from June
EMIRATES ANNOUNCES SECOND DAILY A380 FREQUENCY TO SYDNEY A regular source from the Kampala office of Emirates, Dubai’s award winning airline, has confirmed that from 01st of June onwards they will operate a second daily Airbus A380 nonstop flight between Dubai and Sydney. The move will add nearly 1.900 extra seats per week on the […]
South Sudan launches Civil Aviation Authority
SOUTH SUDAN ESTABLISHES INDEPENDENT CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has earlier this week issued a decree, establishing the country’s Civil Aviation Authority while at the same time appointing General Agasio Akol as the first chairman of the board, overseeing the new aviation body alongside 6 other members. SSCAA will now seek formal […]
Serengeti benefits from global recognition
SERENGETI’S NEW SEVEN NATURAL WONDERS OF THE WORLD STATUS DRAWS IN VISITORS The Serengeti National Park, according to figures released by TANAPA, the Tanzania National Park Authority, has reached record numbers, going by the media statement given from Mr. Pascal Shelutete earlier this week, exceeding 17.000 last month, the highest number ever recorded entering the […]
FastJet attempts to dispel rumours through press conference
FASTJET RESPONDS TO DEBT AND OTHER ALLEGATIONS Information was received from a source in Dar es Salaam who attended a press conference yesterday called by FastJet at short notice. Airline executives refuted claims that they were not paying their dues to TCAA or TRA but tried to explain that, while they acquired Fly540 Tanzania last […]
Inshoza Ballet leaves mark on FESPAD with a blend of old and new
INSHOZA BALLET TAKES AUDIENCE BY STORM When the FESPAD, the Pan African Dance Festival, moved to the Northern Province headquarter town of Huye, expectations were to see much of similarities vis a vis previous days. A stop enroute to the festival venue at the National Museum, which is based together with the Institute of National […]
Mauritius and Maldives sign aviation agreement
MAURITIUS AND MALDIVES SIGN NEW AIR ACCORD The two Indian Ocean island states have earlier this week signed a new bilateral air services agreement, commonly referred to as BASA, allowing the national airlines of the two countries to commence up to 7 flights per week between Port Louis and Male at a later time. The […]
FESPAD 2013 goes upcountry
TAKE A BREAK – DANCE IS THE MOTTO OF FESPAD 2013 AS IT MOVES TO THE COUNTRYSIDE ‘When we hosted FESPAD before, all activities were concentrated in Kigali. This time we wanted to have the entire country have a chance to participate. The national competition is now on and we will have a winner when […]
Precision Air announced double digit passenger growth
PRECISION AIR SHRUGS OFF FASTJET ARRIVAL WITH DOUBLE DIGIT GROWTH The showmanship of FastJet mouthpieces notwithstanding has Precision Air just announced a 13 percent growth in passenger numbers for the period between April 2012 and end January 2013, with a record uplift of 750.762 passengers compared to the same period in the previous year with […]
Dr. Anthony King, renowned Kenyan conservationist, dies in Mt. Kenya plane crash
KENYA CONSERVATION FRATERNITY MOURNS DR. ANTHONY KING Dr. Anthony King, former CEO of the Laikipia Wildlife Forum and more recently manager of the Ngolale Ranch in Rumuruti, died yesterday afternoon when his plane crashed on Mt. Kenya after taking off from the Nanyuki airfield earlier on. The light aircraft, an Aeroprakt A22 Foxbat, was registered […]
FESPAD 2013 finally launches
FESPAD FINALLY LAUNCHES WITH AN EYE CANDY PERFORMANCE OF DANCES The uncertainties of the weather removed, by staging the second attempt to launch FESPAD 2013 indoors at the Petit Stade of the Amahoro National Stadium in Kigali, the show finally got on the road, opened by the Rwandan Minister for Culture in the presence of […]
Pre-election blues for Kenya tourism prompts some harsh but true words
TOURISM BUSINESSES FACE PRE-ELECTION BLUES AS MORE BLAME IS HEAPED ON MWAZO ‘Finally his time in tourism is coming to an end. Too much of what he did was embroiled in controversy and the things which needed doing were not done. I cannot wait for a new government to take over and appoint someone capable […]
Washout for opening ceremony of FESPAD causes rescheduling
WHEN FESPAD TURNED INTO A WETPAD The combined opinion yesterday at the Amahoro National Stadium was that ‘Someone Somewhere’ was responsible for the complete washout, in fact blowout of the opening ceremony as it was just about to start, when a hailstorm of biblical proportions unloaded its icy cargo and unleashed nature’s full wrath on […]
Weekly roundup of news from Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean region, Fourth edition February 2013
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 […]
Rwanda sticks to investment plans to build a better future
RWANDA INVESTS IN FUTURE INSPITE OF DONOR STAMPEDE Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was outspoken as usual when he harshly criticized the current wave of opportunistic financial sanctions as withdrawal of committed and confirmed aid packages to Rwanda for education, health and social services hit the country’s budgeting and is currently causing some serious […]
FESPAD goes underway in Rwanda’s capital Kigali
FESPAD – THE PAN AFRICAN DANCE FESTIVAL – OPENS IN KIGALI Another week long spectacle of dance and art, performed by participants from over 40 African countries, is going underway today when President Paul Kagame opens FESPAD, the Pan African dance, song and heritage event at the Amahoro National Stadium in Kigali before an expected […]
Kenya Airways set to return to B767-300 services to Delhi in June
KENYA AIRWAYS SET TO UP CAPACITY TO DEHLI AGAIN FROM JUNE Not long after reducing capacity on the Nairobi to Dehli route by the introduction of a B737-700 aircraft instead of the initially operated B767-300 aircraft, has Kenya Airways now indicated that from the 11th June onwards they will revert to the B767-300 operation, at […]
UWA mourns loss of a staff after Ishasha shooting incident
UWA MOURNS THE KILLING OF ONE OF THEIR STAFF BY ALLEGED CONGOLESE INTRUDERS The Uganda Wildlife Authority, and the country’s conservation and tourism fraternity, mourn the loss of one Angel Kobusheshe in the Ishasha or Southern Sector of the Queen Elizabeth National Park, which borders to the Congo DR were sporadic fighting is still going […]
Kenyan elections prompt ‘stocking up’ in Uganda and beyond
STOCKING UP FUEL AND COMMODITIES AHEAD OF KENYA ELECTIONS CAUSES SHORTAGES As the elections in Kenya are drawing nearer are Ugandans, but also the people of other hinterland countries like in South Sudan, Eastern Congo, Rwanda and Burundi stocking up on essential commodities, including fuel, driving prices for petrol and diesel further up and threatening […]
