Kikwete pledges improvements to Singida Airstrip
KIKWETE PLEDGES IMPROVEMENTS TO SINGIDA AIRSTRIP During a just concluded visit to the Singido region in Central Tanzania has President Kikwete promised the local business community improvements to the local airfield, like a longer runway and a small passenger terminal, to accommodate larger turboprop aircraft like the ATR 72 commonly used by for instance Precision […]
KQ announces capacity reduction on Mumbai route
KENYA AIRWAYS REDUCES CAPACITY ON MUMBAI ROUTE Kenya Airways has confirmed that effective immediately 3 out of the presently 10 flights between Nairobi and Mumbai will be operated on B737-700 aircraft, leaving the remaining frequencies to be flown on a B767-300ER. This reflects according to a regular source close to the airline the present demand […]
The Boma Hotel gets the presidential nod on official opening
PRESIDENT KIBAKI OPENS THE NEW 5 STAR BOMA HOTEL (Picture courtesy of The Boma Hotel / Kenya Red Cross Society) President Mwai Kibaki yesterday formally opened The Boma Hotel in Nairobi, which over the past few months has firmly established itself as a crowd favourite and gained instant high acclaim among its clientele. The president […]
Houston Marketing sets Pre/Post ITB Spotlight Workshop dates
HOUSTON MARKETING ANNOUNCES 2013 TRADE MEETINGS PROGRAMME Derek Houston has just announced his pre and post ITB ‘Spotlight on Africa and the Indian Ocean’ programme which this year will cover the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, aptly named the Pre and Post ITB Spotlight on Africa & Indian Ocean Island European Roadshow. Derek […]
Qatar Airways ups Poland flights to daily
QATAR AIRWAYS UPS WARSAW FREQUENCIES FROM FOUR TO DAILY Poland’s capital Warsaw will be coming closer to Qatar Airways’ East African destinations Entebbe, Nairobi, Kilimanjaro and Dar es Salaam following an announcement by the airline that come February daily flights will be operated compared to the initial four per week, using an Airbus A320. Launched […]
A guest feature about tourism at the Kenya Coast by MCTA
Swahili Coast: A sub-brand of Magical Kenya seeks to market the Kenyan coast as a separate destination Posted: 07 Jan 2013 02:00 AM PST A large number of tourism players at the Kenyan coast have expressed sentiments that they would wish to see the coast tourism circuit branded and marketed as a separate destination. The […]
Poachers wipe out elephant family of 11 in Tsavo East area
KENYA’S CONSERVATION FRATERNITY REELING FROM LATEST POACHING NEWS News that 11 elephant were slaughtered for their ivory tusks have prompted wide outrage among Kenya’s conservation fraternity, with immediate demands of a strong hand response to hunt down those responsible for this latest elephantcide. An entire elephant family of 11, young ones included, was wiped out […]
Brussels Airlines offers new cabin product for East African market
BRUSSELS AIRLINES COMPLETE CABIN RETROFITTING Brussels Airlines, serving Nairobi, Entebbe, Kigali and Bujumbura in the East African region, has announced that the retrofitting of their Airbus A330 aircraft with an entirely new cabin product for both Economy and Business Class has been completed on schedule. The new facilities on board are now available on every […]
Kempinski Nairobi opening now set for May 2013
NAIROBI KEMPINSKI NOW SET FOR MAY GRAND OPENING The Villa Rosa Kempinski in Nairobi will according to a reliable source now open in May this year, pushed from an initial tentative March opening date, to allow for the finishing of rooms and interior to the exacting standards, the hotel group demands new properties to meet […]
Le Meridien Fisherman’s Cove suffers minor fire damage, operations continue
LE MERIDIEN FISHERMANS COVE SUFFERS MINOR FIRE DAMAGE One of the finest hotels along the Beau Vallon bay, the Le Meridien Fisherman’s Cove, has over the weekend suffered fire damage to the thatch roof over the main restaurant. The accidental fire, no guests or staff came to any harm at the time, was however swiftly […]
Seychelles readies for Carnaval de Carnivals as new visitor record numbers come in
NEW VISITOR RECORD SETS TONE FOR 2013 The jury’s verdict is in and the number was exactly 208.034 – being the combined arrivals of visitors by air and sea in the Seychelles for the year 2012. The increase of well over 8 percent compared with 2011 was largely supported by the tourist board’s strategy of […]
Tanzania set to tap into wind power with new 100 MW plant
TANZANIA READY TO TAP INTO WINDPOWER WITH 100 MW PILOT PLANT Tanzania will be tapping into green, renewable energy sources come 2014, when a proposed 100 MW wind power plant will come on line, now under construction in the Singida region of Central Tanzania. Wind East Africa Limited, the joint venture between Tanzania’s Six Telecom […]
Weekly roundup of news from Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean islands, First edition January 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 […]
Additional ferries to ease transport problems
MORE FERRIES FOR LAKES AND RIVERS Uganda’s Ministry of Transport has confirmed the acquisition of three additional ferries to provide for safe river and lake crossings at select points across the country. The ministry current operates 6 ferries, facilitating traffic between the mainland and islands on Lake Victoria but also used to cross in particular […]
Tanzania rocked by another ferry sinking
FERRY ACCIDENT ON LAKE TANGANYIKA THE LATEST IN LONG LIST OF MARINE DISASTERS A ferry operating on Lake Tanganyika between Tanzania and Burundi has sunk with a at least 8 passengers dead and more than 20 still missing, by the time the information was passed on in the evening from a source based in Arusha. […]
Hong Kong seizes more blood ivory
NEW BLOOD IVORY SEIZURE IN HONG KONG TRACED BACK TO KENYA Reports are coming in from global conservation sources that authorities in Hong Kong have seized another 1.3 tons of blood ivory, stashed away in a container marked as being loaded with ‘architectural stones’ from Kenya. This latest find, the third major seizure of blood […]
AFRAA renews and widens joint aviation fuel purchase deal
AFRAA SIGNS UP 14 MEMBER AIRLINES FOR RENEWED FUEL DEAL Information from Nairobi has confirmed that the African Airline Association is in the process of renewing a joint fuel purchase deal for 2013, renewing a previous deal put into place in 2011/12. A tender has reportedly been issued for up to 1 billion litres of […]
Hoteliers demand ‘exclusion zone’ for draconian anti booze election rules
HOTELS AND RESORTS MUST BE EXCLUDED FROM ELECTION NO ALCOHOL RULE A regular source from Kenya’s hospitality industry has off the record complained that the currently under discussion legislation, to ban the sale and consumption of alcohol between the 02nd and 04th of March, when Kenya is expected to hold the next Presidential and General […]
Irish mountaineer dies on Kilimanjaro while leading charity climb
MOUNTAINEERING FUNDRAISER DIES ON KILIMANJARO (Picture courtesy of Wikipedia) Irish citizen Ian McKeever, known for his world record in 2007 to climb the world’s seven highest mountains, including Mt. Everest, in record time, has earlier this week died while leading a charity expedition up Mt. Kilimanjaro. Reportedly struck by lightning during torrential rain at […]
ATCL resumes flights with Q300 aircraft
AIR TANZANIA GETS BACK INTO THE SKIES, AGAIN Following the extensive repairs to the airline’s Bombardier Q300 turboprop aircraft, damaged in a takeoff mishap in April last year in Kigoma, it is understood that Air Tanzania will resume flight operations this week, returning in fact to Kigoma as their first route. Additional destinations for ATCL […]
Visitors to Kenya face SIM card deregistration, fines and even jail?
REGULAR VISITORS WITH UNREGISTRED SIM CARDS FACE BLOCKS, FINES AND JAIL TERMS Regular visitors to East Africa, holding local telecom operators’ SIM cards they use on arrival, may be in for a rude shock when next returning to Kenya, where the registration deadline for mobile phone numbers expired at the end of last year […]
Air Mauritius and PIA in talks on new route?
AIR MAURITIUS IN TALKS WITH PIA TO ESTABLISH FLIGHT CONNECTIONS Exploratory talks are reportedly underway between Air Mauritius and Pakistan International Airlines about the start of flights between Karachi and Port Louis, which could for the first time connect Pakistan and Mauritius with a nonstop connection. Neither airline currently flies to the other’s country leaving […]
Emirates starts handling A380 flights from new Concourse A
EMIRATES’ FIRST FLIGHTS LEAVE FROM NEW A380 TERMINAL Information received from a regular source at the Emirates Kampala office confirmed that yesterday saw the opening gambit of the new A380 terminal at the Dubai International Airport when national airline Emirates boarded the first ever commercial flight from there following a series of successful trial runs. […]
Kenya Airways flight to Cairo makes emergency landing in Khartoum last night
KENYA AIRWAYS FLIGHT TO CAIRO MAKES EMERGENCY LANDING IN KHARTOUM Information is starting to come to light about an emergency return of a Kenya Airways B737-700 aircraft, which was enroute to Egypt’s capital Cairo after a scheduled stop enroute in Khartoum. Flight KQ 320 left Nairobi at 17.20 hrs and after about 3 hours landed […]
Emirates deploys the A380 on double daily flights to New York and Paris
EMIRATES A380 NOW DOUBLE DAILY TO THE BIG APPLE AND TO PARIS Dubai’s national airline Emirates has now commenced double daily Airbus A380 frequencies to New York and Paris, adding significant extra capacity on both routes. Growing demand for long haul travel to both destinations from around the world, and in particular from the airline’s […]
RwandAir sets new single day passenger record
RWANDAIR CLOSES RECORD 2012 AND LOOKS TO FUTURE Rwanda’s national airline has in 2012 recorded a staggering 40 percent growth in passenger numbers, with a new single day record on the 22nd December of 2.205 passengers flown across the network. John Mirenge, CEO of RwandAir, expressed his delight over the result when he was quoted […]
2012 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: About 55,000 tourists visit Liechtenstein every year. This blog was viewed by 180,000 new readers in 2012. If it were Liechtenstein, it would take about 3 years for that many people to see it. Your blog had more visits than […]
Final News Roundup of 2012 – from Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands
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 […]
2012 in Review – The Highlights of a Travelling Life
2012 IN REVIEW – HIGHLIGHTS REMEMBERED (Dedicated to my Muse) Looking back on 2012 and the many trips across the region, to the Indian Ocean islands and as far as to the Gulf, some experiences stand out to be remembered and treasured while others are best forgotten. Those best forgotten I shall not mention, leaving […]
Breaking News / Qatar Airways launched record legal claim over delay in airport construction
QATAR AIRWAYS SUES AIRPORT CONSTRUCTION COMPANY FOR 600 MILLION US DOLLARS In breaking news, just confirmed by Qatar Airways Director of Corporate Communications, was a price tag of 600 million US Dollars put on a law suit now launched against the joint venture construction company engaged to build the new mega airport in Doha. Speculations […]
