Breaking News – Kenya Airways plans to add cargo aircraft
KENYA AIRWAYS OPENS NEW CARGO CENTRE, ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR OWN FREIGHTER The Kenya Airways Group CEO Dr. Titus Naikuni announced the airline’s plans to acquire their own dedicated cargo aircraft by next year, when he formally opened the Africa Air Cargo Centre at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport earlier. At the same time he announced […]
Breaking News – Rwanda gives date for Kwita Izina 2011
KWITA IZINA SET FOR 18TH JUNE Make a date with Rwanda in the week culminating with the annual Kwita Izina Gorilla naming festival, planned for the 18th of June this year. This date still has to be confirmed by the Rwandan cabinet though, showing the importance tourism has in general and Kwita Izina in particular for the government […]
Breaking News – Air Seychelles CEO sacked
AIR SEYCHELLES CEO SACKED The board of directors of Air Seychelles has taken the unusual step of sacking the company’s CEO, a Mauritian citizen often in the cross hairs of the media and equally often said to be at loggerheads with key staff. No specific details have been ascertained as yet, other that a replacement […]
Breaking News – North African airlines / tourism driven to near ruin
TROUBLED AIRLINES AND TROUBLED RESORTS IN TROUBLED COUNTRIES Information filtering in from airline sources cultivated over many years from several of the countries affected by political upheavals in recent weeks all say the same thing: THE AVIATION AND HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY IS HEADING FOR SERIOUS FINANCIAL TROUBLE AND POSSIBLE SERIOUS DOWNSIZING. Several airlines in fact are […]
Breaking News – Air Seychelles CEO sacked
AIR SEYCHELLES CEO SACKED The board of directors of Air Seychelles has taken the unusual step of sacking the company’s CEO, a Mauritian citizen often in the cross hairs of the media and equally often said to be at loggerheads with key staff. No specific details have been ascertained as yet, other that a replacement […]
Breaking News – Rwanda chosen to host COMESA aviation centre
NEW COMESA AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL CENTRE GOES TO RWANDA The COMESA Secretariat, based in Lusaka / Zambia, has yesterday signed an agreement to establish an air traffic control centre in ‘the land of a thousand hills’, following extensive prior discussions between the two parties. COMESA, which extends from Egypt to Zambia and from Kenya to Congo, will […]
News update – Bridge enroute to Zambia washed away
CRUCIAL BRIDGE ENROUTE TO ZAMBIA DESTROYED The rains brought into Tanzania by the recent tropical cyclone, which swept that part of the Indian Ocean, especially Madagascar and Mozambique, also wreaked havoc in Tanzania when an important traffic link, the bridge over the Msanzi River was completely washed away near Sumbawanga, bringing road traffic to a standstill. This […]
Breaking News – Egypt Air in financial dire straits
EGYPT AIR IN DIRE STRAITS Information was received from usual well informed airline sources that Egypt Air, a member of the global Star Alliance, is seeking assistance from fellow member airlines in need of more aircraft to lease out, by dry or wet lease, as many as two dozen aircraft during the upcoming summer season. […]
Breaking News – Higher fuel supplements on the way by African airlines
AFRICAN AIRLINES BEMOAN FUEL PRICE INCREASES Airlines flying across the East African region have started mulling over an imminent increase in their fuel supplements, charged over and above the ticket costs to cover for the present price explosion. Since the outbreak of political unrest a few weeks ago in Tunisia the wave of protests have […]
News updates – Zanzibar’s tourism stakeholders demand better services
ZANZIBAR TOURISM INVESTORS DEMAND ‘BETTER’ FROM GOVERNMENT Water, electricity, security and garbage removal, amongst many other issues, were the main problems cited by the Zanzibar Association of Tourism Investors, in short ZATI, when they recently met with government officials to discuss matters of mutual interest and also of ongoing and growing concern. Other more administrative […]
Breaking News – Somali ocean terrorists kill American hostages
THE DEATH OF THE YACHTSMEN When news were confirmed yesterday afternoon that the four Americans, captured with their yacht off the coast of Oman, had died at the hand of their captors, the problem of the ocean terrorist took another turn to the worse. Often called a problem from hell, the hell that Somalia has […]
Breaking News – Hilton to manage new hotel in Kigali
HILTON TO COME TO RWANDA’S CAPITAL KIGALI Information was just received that Hilton Hotels, one of the industry leaders and well known brand name in the hospitality industry world wide, has signed a deal for a 160 room and suites hotel in Kigali’s city centre. Adjoining to the hotel will be serviced apartments for rent, also to […]
Breaking News – Tanzania jails Somali pirates to long prison terms
SOMALI PIRATES TO SERVE LONG PRISON TERMS IN TANZANIA NOW Information was received from Dar es Salaam that as many as 11 Somali pirates, captured in recent months, have had their day in court and were found guilty of charges of piracy and related offenses. Reportedly all of them were sentenced to long prison terms […]
Breaking News – Seychelles set date for presidential election
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS SET FOR MAY The Seychelles government has just announced the dates for the Presidential Elections on the archipelago, when May 19th – 21st were set aside for this regular democratic exercise. The Electoral Commission pointed out that May 21st will be the ‘main day’ for voting but that due to the distances across […]
Breaking News – Juba chosen as main venue to declare independence in July
INDEPENDENCE DECLARATION TO TAKE PLACE IN JUBA All available hotel space is being booked up right now for the period of the 09th of July, and the days prior and afterwards, when the new Republic of South Sudan will for formally launched and independence from the ‘old’ Sudan and the regime in Khartoum announced. The […]
News update – Dam ‘not good’ for Lake Turkana
DAM IS NOT GOOD FOR LAKE TURKANA Protests took place in Nairobi last weekend aimed at the Gibe III dam, Ethiopia is constructing on their territory but which is said to have an immediate and massive impact on Kenya too. The only major river, the River Omo, emptying into Lake Turkana in Kenya is being […]
Weekly Roundup – News from Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean region, fourth edition February 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 via Twitter @whthome or on my blog: www.wolfganghthome.wordpress.com Fourth edition February 2011 WHAT TO READ AND HOW TO STAY INFORMED […]
News update – Tanzania planning special activities for 50th Independence anniversay in December
TANZANIA TOURIST BOARD PLANS ‘SPECIAL EVENTS’ FOR 50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE The TTB is reportedly planning a series of events for the tourism industry in the run up to the 09th December, which will mark the half century of Independence for East Africa’s largest country. The various events will cover every aspect the tourism sector […]
News update – Kenya’s tourism stakeholders tell coalition government to keep the peace and not endanger sectoral growth
KENYA’S TOURISM STAKEHOLDERS DEMAND ‘PEACE’ FROM GOVERNMENT The current series of wrangles, spits and spats in the Kenyan government over new appointments and a range of other issues following the introduction of a new constitution last year, has not amused tourism stakeholders at all apparently. Over the last weekend has the Chairman of the Mombasa […]
Breaking News – Museveni wins election
MUSEVENI WINS – NO CHANGE AT THE TOP President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni was as predicted re-elected with a massive majority of votes – 68 percent to be precise – leaving his opponents trailing in his wake with some hardly getting much more than a percent of the overall votes cast. It does leave one to wonder what […]
Breaking News – Tourism State Minister loses re-election bid
TOURISM STATE MINISTER LOSES RACE FOR PARLIAMENT Minister of State for Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities in the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry Hon. Serapio Rukundo, lost his quest to return to parliament when he was beaten by an independent candidate in his home town of Kabale in South Western Uganda. Rukundo was repeatedly in the news […]
News update – Rwanda gets UN’s Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity ‘stamp of approval’
UN’S GOODWILL AMBASSADOR FOR BIODIVERSITY ‘INSPIRED BY RWANDA’ American actor Edward Norton, currently the UN’s Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity, is presently in Rwanda to get firsthand experience on the legislative and regulatory measures taken to preserve, protect and restore biodiversity. As regularly reported here, Rwanda has an outstanding record in protecting flora and fauna and […]
Breaking News – Seychelles Island Foundation gets EU grant to protect Aldabra / Vallee de Mai
SEYCHELLES ISLAND FOUNDATION GETS EU GRANT TO FIGHT ‘INVASIVE SPECIES’ The European Union has awarded the Seychelles Island Foundation a grant of over 800.000 Euros after approving a project drawn up and designed by SIF recently. The foundation is tasked to look after two crucially important UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the visitor magnet ‘Vallee de […]
News update – Goma volcano heading for another eruption
GOMA VOLCANO SET FOR ANOTHER ERUPTION Previous eruptions in recent times may be dwarfed by the expected next eruption of Mr. Nyiragongo, which towers over the Eastern Congolese city of Goma. 9 years ago, in January 2002, when the region’s most active volcano erupted, the reportedly rather ‘liquid’ lava swiftly covered a sizeable part of […]
Breaking News – Dar’s international airport open again – airlines furious over incident and aviation safety issues
DAR’S JNIA AIRPORT OPEN AGAIN / AIRLINES IN DAR ‘FURIOUS’ OVER INCIDENT A regular aviation source in Dar es Salaam has through third parties passed his own views and that of several of his colleagues, even from other airlines, on the airport closure of Dar’s Julius Nyerere International Airport. He said he had to opt […]
Breaking News – Update – Explosions in Dar es Salaam
UPDATE ON ARMY BASE EXPLOSION NEAR DAR ES SALAAM’S JNIA Information received from Dar at present pegs the death toll ‘near 20’ with reportedly hundreds of people, both from the base as well as from residential areas within a radius of several miles, injured. The hospitals are not confirming details by phone on how many […]
Breaking News – Explosions at Dar es Salaam military base close airport
MAJOR EXPLOSIONS AT DAR ES SALAAM MILITARY BASE CLOSE AIRPORT The international airport in Dar es Salaam was closed last night, when a series of explosions rocked a nearby military base once again, the last such blasts having occurred in 2009. Information, though sketchy, from Dar indicates that as many as several hundred people may […]
Breaking News – RwandAir selects SITA IT-solutions and frequent flyer programme
RWANDAIR SELECTS SITA’S IT SOLUTIONS The Rwandan national airline has entered into a long term arrangement with SITA to provide their new e-Commerce platform for web based transactions and secure payments with credit cards or e-transfers. The system launch date will be sometime in April this year, when other modalities have been resolved and final preparations […]
Breaking News – Kenya Airways gets certification for B737-800 simulator
KENYA AIRWAYS RECEIVES ‘SIMULATOR’ CERTIFICATION ‘The Pride of Africa’ has today started using their own fully certified simulator facility at the ‘Pride Training Centre’ in Embakasi / Nairobi, after receiving the requisite ‘paperwork’ from the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority and the British CAA. Having certification from Britain too will allow the facility to be used by […]
News update – Fibre optic cable survey underway to connect Seychelles to African mainland
SURVEY SHIP FOR FIBRE OPTIC CABLE LINK TO MAINLAND SETS OUT EGS Explorer left the Victoria port on Mahe yesterday to commence a long distance survey mission, which will end on the African mainland at Dar es Salaam port, aimed at establishing the contours of the seabed along which the fibre optic connection will be laid. […]
