Kenya aviation news update – Fleet expansion by Kenya Airways causes fears amongst competitors
KQS FLEET EXPANSION CAUSES OTHER AIRLINES TO WORRY (One of Kenya Airways brand new E190AR) Within hours of Kenya Airways serving notice of intent about its future, when they signed a 26 aircraft deal with Embraer of Brazil, did other airlines express their fears in an uncharacteristically candid fashion in communications with this correspondent. Fly […]
Tanzania conservation news – Grumeti Reserves under the spotlight AGAIN
GRUMETI RESERVES UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT AGAIN Investigations have been launched against some Grumeti Reserves wardens over the alleged beating of a poaching suspect, who later died in hospital. The three staff are now in custody alongside a game officer from a nearby outpost, who was also arrested to help with investigations. The alleged poacher was […]
Rwanda aviation news update – New B737-800 to enter commercial service this weekend
RWANDAIRS NEW B737-800 TO ENTER COMMERCIAL SERVICE THIS WEEKEND (The state of the art cockpit of RwandAirs new B737-800) It was learned overnight that upon completion of the mandatory crew training and check out on the new B737-800 the aircraft is due to enter commercial service this weekend with flights to Dubai via Mombasa and […]
Uganda news update – Telecoms wars continue on a different platform
TELECOM WARS MOVE TO OTHER PLATFORMS The announcement by MTN to double its call rates from 2 Uganda Shillings per second to 4 Uganda Shillings per second is the first such rise since Warid Telecom entered the Ugandan market and Airtel took over Celtel/Zain last year. Telecom operators since then kept lowering call charges, and […]
Uganda news update – Inflation goes beyond 21 percent
INFLATION JUMPS TO OVER 20 PERCENT Ugandans woke up to shock news when the latest data of the Uganda Bureau of Statistics and from the Bank of Uganda emerged overnight, suggesting the annual inflation rate had risen to 21.4 percent in August. Alongside this piece of bad news came yet more bad news, that banks […]
Seychelles aviation news – ‘HM’ ends UK MoD contract to Falklands
AIR SEYCHELLES MOD FLIGHTS TO FALKLAND ISLANDS END THIS WEEK Information was sourced from Mahe that the contract between the British Ministry of Defense to operate flights between the UK air force base in Brize – Norton and the Falklands, via Ascension Island is going to expire this weekend and that ‘HM’ will not be […]
East African aviation news – Dar aviation conference draws over 200 participatns
AFRAA BLASTS AFRICAN GOVERNMENTS AT AVIATION MEETING IN DAR The African Airline Association took advantage of the just ended aviation conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to expose once again the lack of implementation of the Yamoussoukro Declaration, besides highlighting on behalf of their members the pressing issues of investments in the aviation infrastructure and […]
Zanzibar festival news – Jahazi Jazz and Literature Festival this weekend
ZANZIBAR TO LAUNCH SECOND MAJOR CULTURAL FESTIVAL September 02nd until 04th will see the inaugural edition of the ‘Jahazi Literary and Jazz Festival’, to be officially launched by Zanzibar’s President Ali Mohamed Sein. The island is already home to one of the most significant music and cultural festivals on the entire African continent, Sauti Za […]
African conservation breaking news – 800 tusks confiscated in Hong Kong
MORE IVORY CONFISCATED IN HONG KONG Nearly 800 elephant tusks were yesterday found in containers, shipped from Africa via Malaysia to Hong Kong. The consignment weighed nearly two tons and is estimated to have a street value of about 13 million Hong Kong Dollars. CITES’s Secretariat and Interpol will be conducting a DNA analysis on […]
Seychelles conservation breaking news – SNPA gets new board
SEYCHELLES NATIONAL PARK GETS NEW BOARD The Minister for Environment, the Hon. Joel Morgan, has yesterday appointed a new board of directors to guide and supervise the Seychelles National Park Authority. Mr. Flavien Joubert has been appointed the Chairman of the Board while Dr. Frauke Dogley, CEO of the Seychelles Island Foundation, was appointed to […]
Kenya aviation news update – Aviation links on bilateral talks agenda with the US
KENYA TO DISCUSS AIR LINKS WITH US A bilateral meeting between the United States and Kenya at the end of September will have aviation on the agenda, it was understood from a source in Nairobi. The inexplicable cancellation of a Delta Airlines inaugural flight in early 2010, ostensible over obscure ‘security concerns’, caused consternation in […]
Rwanda conservation news – NGO’s involved in re-afforestation
RE-FORESTATION CONTINUES IN RWANDA The Rwanda Afforestation Support Programme earlier in the week released data of their accomplishments, having planted over 160 hectares of land along main roads with trees while planting over 460 hectares on previously degraded and encroached forest land. The group, with funding from Belgium and the Netherlands will continue their work, […]
Kenya aviation breaking news – Kenya Airways and Embraer sign purchase / options deal today
KENYA AIRWAYS PUTS PEN TO PAPER WITH EMBRAER Today will see the formal signing ceremony between ‘The Pride of Africa’, aka Kenya Airways and Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. During the recent Paris Air Show was the initial announcement made, and instantly reported here, that KQ had expressed their intent to buy 10 more Embraer E190AR […]
Tanzania conservation news – East African Court of Justice throws out government objections, will hear Serengeti Highway case
SERENGETI HIGHWAY OPPONENTS CELEBRATE COURT VICTORY News came in overnight that the Tanzanian government has suffered a sharp setback when their application to throw out a legal case brought by a range of opponents to their Serengeti highway plans was denied by the East African Court of Justice. Court ruled to uphold the suit brought […]
Uganda conservation news – Mabira rhetoric escalates as World Bank insists on ‘offset agreement’
MABIRA RHETORIC GETS SHARPER While the World Bank has given the clearest indication yet that they will use all means at their disposal to hold the Ugandan government to its commitment to leave Mabira alone as part of an ‘offset agreement’ signed between the parties in 2001 over the financing of the Bujagali hydro electric […]
Weekly roundup of news from the Eastern African and Indian Ocean region, Fifth edition August 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 Fifth edition August 2011 HAPPY […]
Mauritius hospitality news update – Hotel Institute graduates 91 students
HOTEL SCHOOL GRADUATES MORE STUDENTS 91 students received their diplomas and certificates earlier this week when the ‘Ecole Hoteliere Sir Gaetan Duval’ graduated their latest batch of students, now ready to join or re-join the Mauritius hospitality industry. The minister for education and human resources was the guest of honour at the ceremony held by […]
Seychelles news update – Shark hunt continues
SHARK HUNT CONTINUES AFTER CATCHING 12 FOOT TIGER SHARK The efforts to trace and destroy the killer shark responsible for the death of two tourists on the Anse Lazio beach of Praslin are continuing, although news broke over the weekend that a 12 foot tiger shark was caught between the Cousin and Cousine islands. Two […]
East Africa news update – EAC pushes for highway upgrade from Arusha via Taveta / Voi to Mombasa
EAC TO DEVELOP BETTER ARUSHA TO MOMBASA ROAD LINK With the completion of the Arusha to Nairobi highway finally in sight, the East African Community is now turning its attention to ‘the missing link’, a better highway connection from the seat of the EAC in Arusha via Moshi – Taveta and Voi to Mombasa. Arusha, […]
Kenya aviation news – Kisumu airport set for completion at last
KISUMU AIRPORT SET FOR COMPLETION Following news a few days ago that Malindi’s airport construction was nearly complete and the commissioning of the new facilities, i.e. passenger terminal, shops, restaurants and the new control tower was only weeks away, was additional information sent to this correspondent over the weekend that Kisumu’s airport too was now […]
KISUMU AIRPORT SET FOR COMPLETION Following news a few days ago that Malindi’s airport construction was nearly complete and the commissioning of the new facilities, i.e. passenger terminal, shops, restaurants and the new control tower was only weeks away, was additional information sent to this correspondent over the weekend that Kisumu’s airport too was now […]
Uganda news update – Shilling plunges to new record lows
SHILLING PLUNGES TO NEW LOWS Last Friday saw the value of the Uganda Shilling drop to new lows, when demand for the US Dollar soared and previous interventions by the Bank of Uganda evaporated with little visible impact to stem the tide for more than a day or two. Trading in the 2.820 to 2.840 […]
East Africa news – Khartoum’s membership application to join EAC seen as ‘pure mischief’
MORE MISCHIEF FROM THE KHARTOUM REGIME Khartoum’s formal application to join the East African Community has been received with some incredulity in Arusha, causing a blinding diplomatic headache to community bureaucrats and the member states. No longer having any direct borders with any of the East African Community, the regime in Khartoum is thought to […]
South Sudan news update – New Tourism Minister appointed
NEW TOURISM MINISTER APPOINTED President Gen. Salva Mayardit Kiir has last week put final touches on the first post independence cabinet, after first creating 29 ministries before on subsequent days appointing the ministers holding the respective portfolios. Retained in name and function was the Ministry of Wildlife Conservation and Tourism, which oversees the country’s national […]
Rwanda aviation news update – New Bugesera airport scope / cost under review
NEW AIRPORT UNDER REVIEW Plans for the new international airport outside Kigali in Bugesera are being reviewed, as the latest studies reveal a staggering cost of at least 600 million US Dollars, likely to rise still further considering inflationary trends and cost increases along the way. The Rwandan Minister for Infrastructure the Hon. Albert Nsengiyumva […]
Rwanda aviation news – RwandAir welcomes the arrival of their first B737-800
RWANDAIR GETS NG737, CEO TALKS OF FUTURE PLANS (RwandAir’s new bird 9XR-WF taxiing to the parking position) Regular plane spotters were the first to see the landing lights of RwandAir’s brand new B737-800 emerge from the distant clouds as shortly before 3 p.m. local time the long awaited ‘bird’ came […]
Kenya hospitality news update – Sun Africa announces the setting up of two luxury tented camps
SUN AFRICA SET FOR TWO MORE CAMP OPENINGS Details were obtained that Sun Africa Hotels, owners and managers of the soon to formally opening Sovereign Suites, the Lake Baringo Club, the Lake Naivasha Country Club and the Keekorok Lodge will shortly embark on the setting up of two more safari camps. Tent sizes were given […]
Tanzania marine conservation news – Whale shark tours now available from Mafia Island
WHALE SHARKING FOR MAFIA’S MARINE PARK Regular and increased sightings of the ocean’s largest fish, the whale shark, in the waters off Mafia Island, have prompted the Mafia Marine Park management to introduce and licence dedicated ocean tours to show the fish to tourist visitors. Now over 10 years old the park has started to […]
Kenya aviation news update – Malindi’s new terminal and control tower ‘almost ready’
NEW TERMINAL AT MALINDI AIRPORT ‘NEARLY READY’ It was learned overnight that work on Malindi Airport’s new terminal building has advanced well enough to consider an informal commissioning in mid to late October this year. A formal opening will then follow at a later stage. The construction also involved a new control tower, for improved […]
Kenya conservation news update – Reprieve for Nairobi National Park?
REPRIEVE FOR NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK? Nairobi National Park’s public voice, FoNNaP or Friend of Nairobi National Park, was heard loud and clear earlier in the week when Dr. Paula Kahumbu, recently honoured by the National Geographic Society for her conservation work in Kenya, spoke to the chief engineer of the Kenya National Highways Authority in […]
