Kenya aviation news – KQ launches ‘Change for Change’ project
CHANGE MAKES CHANGE Kenya Airways has began to accept voluntary contributions from passengers, happy to donate ‘excess’ coins but also notes for that matter, for funding of the airline’s charitable programmes across the network. Besides Kenya, where KQ’ corporate responsibility projects have made a big impact on society, and on the environment through their ‘plant […]
Rwanda aviation news – One Month and Counting
ONE MONTH AND COUNTING RwandAir’s first brand new B737-800, which is presently being assembled at the Boeing facility in the United States, is now just one month away from delivery in Kigali. Equipped with the latest ‘Sky Interior’, developed by Boeing to make the aircraft look more ‘sassy’ on the inside, the aircraft a few […]
Rwanda conservation news – A visit to the ‘enchanted’ Nyungwe Forest National Park
NYUNGWE FOREST, VIEWS FROM ABOVE AND FROM BELOW If ever I have entered an enchanted forest, where I expected to momentarily see elves and hobbits emerge from behind these huge moss covered trees, or where I would run into these legendary shepards of the trees, it would be Nyungwe. I have of course no idea […]
Weekly roundup of news from Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean region, Fourth edition July 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 Fourth edition July 2011 East […]
Kenya aviation news update – Fly 540 signs up with M-Pesa
FLY 540 OFFERS M-PESA OPTION TO PAY FOR TICKETS Regional LCC Fly 540 has now started accepted M-Pesa for payment for airtickets, according to information provided by the airline’s Director of Operations Nixon Ooko. More and more Kenyans are now using the ‘electronic wallet’ M-Pesa provides, allowing all sorts of services and goods to be […]
Uganda news update – New lake ferry launched
NEW LAKE FERRY TO START OPERATIONS ON LAKE VICTORIA MV Amani was a few days ago introduced to the media at the Port Bell pier, with the start of operations now imminent it was learned. The 150 seater passenger ferry will according to the owners ‘Earth Wise Ventures’ offer connections from Port Bell / Kampala […]
African aviation news – AFRAA targets Gulf carriers in latest round of spats
AFRAA NOW TARGETS MIDDLE EAST CARRIERS Never shy of controversy, the last one having been sweeping allegations over the EU’s aviation black list targeting African airlines to protect their own – made days before another crash of a banned Congolese airline cost yet more lives – has AFRAA last week in Nairobi taken aim at […]
Rwanda / Congo conservation news – Low Land Gorillas ‘repatriated’
RWANDA ‘REPATRIATES’ LOW LAND GORILLAS TO CONGO Six ‘low land gorillas’ impounded some time ago from poachers and smugglers, ‘flew home’ over the weekend when they were returned to their original homeland. Held in Kinigi until Saturday, where they had been looked after by gorilla conservationists from the Diane Fossey Gorilla Fund, the six will […]
South Sudan news update – Jacaranda owners set to invest in new hotel in Juba
JACARANDA OWNERS TO INVEST IN A NEW HOTEL IN JUBA Information was obtained from Nairobi over the weekend, that the owners of the Jacaranda Hotel in Nairobi, who also own the Indian Ocean Beach Resort in Ukunda / South Coast of Mombasa, are planning to build a hotel in the capital of the new Republic […]
Kenya conservation breaking news – Last of the Samburu ‘matriarchs’ is killed
AS IVORY BURNS THE LAST OF THE SAMBURU MATRIARCH’S FELL More gruesome news emerged overnight that the last of the famous Samburu matriarch elephant, named Khadija, was shot and killed for her tusks, as President Kibaki prepared to light the fire under 5 tons of blood ivory at the Manyani KWS training camp last week. […]
Seychelles aviation news – ‘HM’ appoints new GSA in Finland
AIR SEYCHELLES APPOINTS GSA IN FINLAND As the Seychelles national airline continues to explore ways and means to bring more passengers to the archipelago it has in its latest move signed up a new general sales agent in Finland. Airtouch will now look after ‘HM’s’ interests and in particular promote travel to the islands via […]
Tanzania aviation news update – New board appointed for TAA
TANZANIA AIRPORT AUTHORITY GETS NEW BOARD A new board of directors has been appointed on Saturday in Dar es Salaam by the Minister for Transport for the Tanzania Airport Authority. The new board now faces a multitude of challenges as the government has committed itself to revamp the aviation infrastructure across the sprawling East African […]
Kenya aviation news – Next on KQ’s world map are Beirut and Jeddah
KENYA AIRWAYS SET TO ADD JEDDAH AND BEIRUT ‘The Pride of Africa’, while committed to connect Africa by 2013 like no other airline from their Nairobi hub, has not lost sight of other valuable destinations, where direct flights to and from Nairobi, and beyond for connecting passengers, will add value for passengers and a boost […]
Uganda news update – ‘Bureaucrats out to kill aviation’ claims airline source
TOURISM AND AVIATION – HOW CAN WE BUREAUCRATS KILL YOU Only recently was it reported here, that not only did the international airlines express their dissatisfaction with the service levels provided by the international airport in Entebbe, but then went ahead and dared to give open advice how to stimulate travel to Uganda by for […]
Rwanda conservation news update – Gishwati forest chimps population on the rise
GISHWATI FOREST CHIMPS ‘PROSPER AND MULTIPLY’ The isolated chimpanzee population in Gishwati Forest, already a protected forest area and tipped to become Rwanda’s next national park, was not too long ago barely a dozen strong and showed all the hallmarks of a declining population. Rwanda’s determined efforts to save her forests and the declared government […]
Uganda news update – ‘It wasn’t me’ claims former tourism minister
IT WASN’T ME CLAIMS OTAFIRE Hasty decisions, made in the heat of the moment with vengeance in mind, often come back to haunt as the former cabinet minister for tourism Kahinda Otafire came to realize yesterday. Having constituted a Commission of Enquiry into the UWA affairs of how the PAMSU project was managed, he too […]
Seychelles news update – Fibre optic project finance secured
FIBRE OPTIC CONNECTION FINANCES NOW SECURED The Government of Seychelles, in partnership with Cables and Wireless and Airtel, have now finalized the financing arrangements to commence work on the fibre optic cable link, which will connect the archipelago with Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, where it will tap into at least one of three major […]
Rwanda conservation news update – Nyungwe Forest buffer zone given to ‘New Forests Company’ for restoration
NYUNGWE FOREST BUFFER ZONE ALLOCATED TO ‘NEW FORESTS COMPANY’ Conservationists in Rwanda and the region were both pleased as well as surprised, when the Government of Rwanda through the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Rwanda Development Board earlier in the week signed a long term agreement with UK based ‘New Forests Company’, represented by […]
Tanzania hospitality news – With Kempinski gone, who will take over
SPECULATION GROWS OVER KEMPINSKI SUCCESSION When the owning company of the Kilimanjaro Hotel in Dar es Salaam and the Bilila Lodge in the Serengeti announced that they were parting company with Kempinski, only weeks after this global hospitality giant lost the management of their Zanzibar property, both sides played down the effects it would have […]
Kenya tourism news update – Tea sector dislodges tourism from top forex earner position
TEA MOVES AHEAD OF TOURISM IN KENYA’S FOREX EARNINGS Tourism stakeholders will wake up to a shock today when they read headlines announcing that their darling sector has been dislodged from the top of the foreign exchange earners list by the tea sector, which came just short of 100 billion Kenya Shillings last financial year […]
Kenya aviation breaking news – Kenya Airways orders two more B777-300ER
KENYA AIRWAYS ON EXPANSION PATH No sooner had news broken yesterday afternoon about the ambitions of Kenya Airways to break into the profitable cargo market by acquiring one B747-400F and two B737F, came more information out of their Embakasi headquarters that they have signed a deal with global aircraft leasing giant GECAS for the delivery […]
Uganda news update – UWA Commission of Enquiry Chairman calls former minister ‘incompetent’
KANYEIHAMBA COMMISSION CALLS FORMER MINISTER ‘INCOMPETENT’ ‘Your submission indicates that you were incompetent as a minister’ were the words used by controversial retired Supreme Court Justice George Kanyeihamba, after the immediate past Minister of State for Tourism Serapio Rukundo gave his testimony, having been summoned too by the Commission of Enquiry. Often called ‘Otafire’s kangaroo […]
Uganda aviation news update – CAA cleared of tender wrongdoings
NO FOUL PLAY IN CAA TENDER AWARD ‘That was pure malice from complainants and frankly incompetence from the PPDA for falling into that trap in the first place’ was the tenor of comments made off the record by sources close to the Civil Aviation Authority, when news broke yesterday that the tender award for the […]
Uganda news update – Parliament gets a does of their own medicine
PARLIAMENTS EGO TRIP ENDS IN DARKNESS TOO The Ugandan public wasted no time in jubilating when word spread yesterday that Parliament, the source of much of the country sitting in darkness at present night after night, was finally given a dose of their own medicine when ‘loadshedding’ reached the chambers of the house. MP’s reportedly […]
Kenya aviation breaking news – KQ to get B747-400F to start cargo operations in October
KENYA AIRWAYS GOES CARGO IN A BIG WAY A source within Kenya Airways has answered in the affirmative a short while ago to the question asked earlier in the afternoon: ‘yes we will be getting a B747-400F in September’. This ends months of speculation over the level of the airline’s entry into the cargo business, […]
Seychelles news update – Investment Forum in Jo’burg also serves to promote tourism
SEYCHELLES PROMOTES INVESTMENTS AND TOURISM IN SOUTH AFRICA A two day investment forum in Johannesburg, organized by the Seychelles Investment Board in conjunction with the High Commission in Pretoria is ending today, after successfully attracting scores of interested companies and potential investors for projects across the archipelago. Participants reportedly came from the wider South African […]
Kenya aviation news update – WHO will survive the hard times
KENYA’S AVIATION SECTOR – WHO NEXT TO FALL TO THE HARD TIMES Aviation in Kenya is a generally thriving industry with the number of aircraft registered and the daily flights recorded, at the main airports, at Wilson and across the entire country’s airfields and airstrips dwarfing the entire rest of the East African Community. No […]
Kenya aviation update – A380 for Jo’burg in October but NBO?
EMIRATES A380 FOR KENYA? ‘Kenya is our third biggest market in Africa after South Africa and Nigeria’ was the statement made earlier in the week, when Emirates’ Nairobi office launched the airline’s premium product upgrades now in place in all of the flying giant aircraft. The A380 will first come to Africa in October, when […]
Seychelles news update – Parliament accepts court ruling, dissolves itself again
PARLIAMENT DISSOLVES ITSELF AGAIN – WITH DUE NOTICE Following the ruling of the Constitutional Court, that they vote for the dissolution of parliament was not valid as the prescribed notice was not given in accordance within the law and the regulations governing such a vote, the Speaker of the Seychelles parliaments promptly accepted the ruling […]
East Africa news – It is officially a FAMINE now
IT IS OFFICIALLY A FAMINE NOW At least 11 million people in the Horn of Africa and wider Eastern African region are now said to be suffering from a famine, which has been described as the worst in decades, aggravated by the civil war in Somalia and the hostilities and tension between Eritrea and Ethiopia. […]
