Africa blogs and reports through Connect4Climate
AFRICAN VOICES BLOG AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE A blogathon has been organized for the period between October 24th and 31st to draw attention to the impact of climate change on the African continent. The Connect4Climate team is drawing in important bloggers and journalist with influence and deep reach from Africa to the rest of the world, […]
Kenya news update – Security stepped up across the country following troop deployments into Somalia
KENYA STEPS UP INTERNAL SECURITY MEASURES Information from Nairobi and Mombasa seems to indicate that following the countrys decision to go after the Al Shabab militants inside Somalia, which followed a series of hit and run attacks and abductions by the terrorist organization, internal security was stepped up and companies have been alerted to take […]
African aviation news – Decommissioning of Soviet era aircraft in Russia prompts new fears of dumping
AFRICAN AVIATION OBSERVERS BRACE FOR MORE DUMPING News from Russia that two major privately owned airlines, Ural Airlines and Kuban Airlines announced earlier in the week that they would phase out their ancient Soviet built aircraft will send shivers down the spines of regular observers of the African aviation scene. In the past Africa has […]
Rwanda aviation news update – RwandAir’s second B737-800 to come ‘home’ on 28th October
RWANDAIRS SECOND B737-800 COMPLETES TEST FLIGHTS (RwandAirs second brand new B737-800 in the Boeing paint shop in Everett) Following the completion of the assembly of RwandAirs new aircraft were a series of test flights performed to establish that all was well up in the skies, before returning the bird to the ground to get its […]
Aviation – How superior airport infrastructure aids or breaks airline ambitions
AIRLINE EXPANSION AND GROWTH LIMITED BY POOR AIRPORT INFRASTRUCTURE Major airlines in Europe and North America have for many years now watched new global players emerge, eating deep into the cake of market dominance previously shared by only those few which have survived globalization and either grew smartly through acquisitions or as often the case […]
Kenya aviation news – Kenya Airways cargo operations commence in two weeks
TIME FRAME FOR KENYA AIRWAYS CARGO OPERATIONS CONFIRMED The Kenyan national airline has now given a clear indication that their recently leased B747-400F will arrive over the next two weeks in Nairobi and then be immediately available for cargo operations. The aircraft has been wetleased as presently no Kenya Airways pilots hold qualifications for this […]
Uganda news – Airtel offers their BlackBerry customers credit for lost day
IT IS MONEY BACK FOR AIRTELS BLACKBERRY SUBSCRIBERS Airtel Uganda has just announced that they will give all their subscribers for the BlackBerry service three days credit or an extension of service by three days for prepaid customers, as a result of the global outage caused recently by a major hardware and back up failure. […]
Rwanda aviation news – New schedule for ‘WB’ from 21st November due to be released
RWANDAIR ANNOUNCES SCHEDULE CHANGES AHEAD OF GETTING THEIR SECOND B737-800 Effective 21st of November will RwandAir launch a new flight schedule, which will reflect their newly acquired capabilities with having two long range B737-800 on their fleet by then. A second brand new -800 is due to be flown into Kigali on Tuesday 25th of […]
Weekly roundup of news from the Eastern African and Indian Ocean region – Third edition October 2011
TOURISM, AVIATION AND CONSERVATION NEWS from the Eastern African and Indian Ocean region A weekly roundup of reports, travel stories and opinions by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang H. Thome Get daily breaking news updates instantly via Twitter by following @whthome or read the daily postings on my blog via: www.wolfganghthome.wordpress.com Many of these articles then also […]
Tanzania news update – President blames ‘incompetent foreign management’ for corporate failures
KIKWETE BLAMES CORPORATE FAILURES ON INCOMPETENT FOREIGN MANAGEMENT In an astonishing outburst has Tanzanias president Kikwete laid into selected foreign companies, blaming them for huge corporate failures when opening the Lake Tanganyika Investment Forum earlier in the week. He cited in particular the Tanzania Railways Corporation and the City Water Company although the equally failed […]
Zanzibar tourism and culture news – Sauti Za Busara 2012 line up of artists now confirmed
SAUTI ZA BUSARA 2012 NEWS Zanzibars globally renowned music, film and culture festival, Sauti Za Busara, has just announced the final lineup for selected artists participating in next years event, in their latest information sent out to the media. A partial reproduction of their latest news letter, which also includes a final call for Movers […]
Rwanda aviation news – Second B737-800 for RwandAir now on production line
RWANDAIRS SECOND B737-800 GOES ON THE PRODUCTION LINE The second brand new B737-800, featuring once again Boeings Sky Interior, has recently been put on the production line in Everett and is now being assembled, ready for an expected delivery to Rwandas national airline on the 25th of October. RwandAirs fleet will then grow to a […]
Uganda aviation breaking news – Air Uganda welcomes Kayle Haywood as new CEO
AIR UGANDA SET FOR ANOTHER CHANGE AT THE TOP Hugh Fraser, Air Ugandas Chief Executive, is reportedly set to leave the airline at the end of October. His main achievement during his time at U7 was to return the carrier to level keel and bring it into calmer waters, following multiple management changes in key […]
Tanzania aviation news – ATCL gets their AOC at last, more bailout money from tax payers
PAYMENT OF ATCL DEBTS TILTS MARKET AVIATION OBSERVERS CLAIM Air Tanzania has finally received a new AOC Air Operators Certification from the Tanzanian Civil Aviation Authority, after the previous permit had lapsed following the suspension and halt of all operations early this year. This opens the way for the airline to resume operations with their […]
Uganda conservation news – Bickering follows GVTC meeting in Kampala
BICKERING FOLLOWS IGCP MEETING IN KAMPALA As reported here did the Greater Virunga Transboundary Committee meeting take place in Kampala last week, discussing closer cooperation and harmonized policies and responses to the conservation challenges faced by each of the participant members, UWA from Uganda, RDB Tourism and Conservation from Rwanda and the Congolese Institute for […]
Seychelles news update – Seychelles makes it on to UNWTO’s Sustainable Tourism Committee
SEYCHELLES MAKES IT ON TO UNWTOS SUSTAINABLE TOURISM COMMITTEE The extraordinary efforts by the Seychelles to promote sustainable tourism and put the environment first as shown results when during the recently concluded general assembly of member countries of the UNs World Tourism Organization the country was elected to the important sustainable tourism committee. The archipelagos […]
South Sudan news – New country phone prefix activated faster than planned
ISD SWITCHOVER BROUGHT FORWARD The anticipated migration to an own International Dialing Code, away from Khartoums +249 prefix, has been brought forward from December as a result of continuous eavesdropping by the regime of ICC fugitive Bashir. A source in Juba confirmed that our own prefix +211 is now active and we no longer need […]
Rwanda conservation news – 67 million trees to be planted to boost degraded forest areas
RWANDA TO PLANT 67 MILLION TREES Rwandas policy of active re-forestation by 2020 an area covering 30 percent of the country with forests has been set as target has received a further boost when it was announced that over 67 million tree seedlings will be availed for planting to speed up the exercise. The Ministry […]
Seychelles tourism news – SUBIOS comes calling again
SUBIOS ANTE PORTAS Seychelles globally renowned festival of marine life under the waters of the Indian Ocean is just around the corner now, due to take place between November 04 and 06. Diving and underwater safari aficionados from around the world will fly into Mahe for the event to participate in the annual competition for […]
Kenya breaking news – Government in Nairobi decides on policy shift, deploys army and airforce units to Somali border
KENYA GOVERNMENT CHANGES STRATEGY, ALLOWS HOT PURSUIT In a long awaited policy shift has the Kenyan government now given their military, and probably all security organs involved in keeping Al Shabab at bay, permission to cross the border with Somalia in pursuit of militants. While it was not immediately known if this is being applied […]
Uganda aviation news – SAA hosts South African wine festival in Kampala
SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS HOSTS SOUTH AFRICAN WINE FESTIVAL Star Alliance member South African Airways, the only airline flying a daily nonstop service between Entebbe and Johannesburg, on Friday night hosted the travel and business community to their annual South African Wine Festival, co-sponsored by fellow South African companies MTN and Stanbic Bank, both of which […]
South Sudan aviation news – Fly 540 to add more flights to Nairobi
JUBA GETS MORE NAIROBI FLIGHTS A source in Juba has confirmed that Fly540 will launch a second daily flight between Nairobi and Juba between Monday and Thursday while Friday to Sunday will continue to see the regular daily departure. Nairobi has become the destination of choice for many South Sudanese to connect to international flights […]
Kenya aviation news – AGM approves Kenya Airways’ plans for a share issue
KENYA AIRWAYS GETS SHAREHOLDER APPROVAL FOR NEW SHARE ISSUE The Annual General Meeting of The Pride of Africa at the Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi yesterday produced the anticipated result, when the shareholders overwhelmingly voted YES when the proposal by the Board of Directors for a new share issue was tabled. A meeting of the […]
Kenya tourism news – Tourist ignores ‘no swimming’ advice in Watamu and pays the ultimate price
BRITISH TOURIST DEFIES BAD WEATHER WARNING, DROWNS A tourist from Britain drowned earlier in the week off the beach in Watamu, where he went swimming inspite of strong if not categoric warnings of bad weather, high surf and off limit guidance from the hotel and officials. Kenya has in past days experienced unusually high waves […]
Ethiopia aviation news – Added Khartoum flights now bypass Addis
NEW FLIGHTS FROM ETHIOPIA TO NORTH SUDANS CAPITAL Ethiopian Airlines has two days ago launched nonstop flights from Bahir Dar and Mekele to Khartoum, providing passengers with a faster connection without having to travel first via Addis Ababa. The airline is using their Bombardier Q400 turboprop for the service which is now going to operate […]
Uganda news – Government takes ‘delivery’ of second fibre optic ‘backbone’ phase
NEW FIBRE OPTIC BACKBONE GOING INTO OPERATION IN UGANDA Years of waiting and billions of Uganda Shillings in expenditure are now coming to a successful conclusion as Chinas Huawei is handing over the finished product to the Ugandan government, which has paid for the installation of fibre optic cables across the country to connect The […]
Tanzania news – Prince of Wales to visit Tanzania for 50th Independence Day celebrations
PRINCE OF WALES EXPECTED IN TANZANIA Conservationists have taken heart when it was learned that the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall will visit Tanzania in November on the occasion of the countrys 50th Independence Day celebrations. The Prince of Wales is embarking on a tour to the Middle East and Africa, which […]
Kenya tourism news – Balala gets elected to UNWTO Executive Committee Chairmanship
UNWTO EXECUTIVE COUNCIL ELECTS KENYAS TOURISM MINISTER AS CHAIRMAN Tourism Minister Najib Balala was elected chairman of the important executive committee of the UNs World Tourism Organization during the just concluded assembly of the UNWTO in South Korea. The 31 member committee runs the affairs of the UNWTO between general assemblies and for the first […]
Kenya aviation news – ATC ‘goes slow’ to press for better pay
KENYAS AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS GO SLOW Nairobi aviation sources confirmed a go slow by air traffic controllers overseeing operations at the countrys main gateway Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and also at Wilson Airport, where most of the tourism related safari flights originate. Negotiations between the Civil Aviation Authority and the Aviation and Allied Workers Union […]
Tanzania aviation news – Precision gears up PR during IPO phase
PRECISION GEARS UP PR DURING IPO PERIOD Tanzanias Precision Air, currently in the process of an IPO on Dar es Salaams Stock Exchange, has notably geared up its PR activities in support of the share sale, and probably also to counter a disputed assessment by a Nairobi investment firm about the valuation of the shares […]
