africanflyer

Ethiopian Airlines placed an order with Airbus for twelve A359s. The first aircraft is scheduled for delivery in 2017.

Ethiopian Airlines placed an order for five 772LRs from Boeing with delivery set to begin in October 2010.

Air Botswana will place its code on Kenya Airways’ newly announced service between Gaborone and Nairobi.

Kenya Airways will begin service to Gaborone, Botswana on September 4. Flights will operate 3x per week on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays with the return leg having a stop at Harare, Zimbabwe.

KQ704 NBO - GBE: 720 - 1020 Tuesdays, Fridays
KQ704 GBE - HRE: 1105 - 1235
KQ704 HRE - NBO: 1315 - 1705

KQ706 NBO - GBE: 2000 - 2300 Saturdays
KQ706 GBE - NBO: 2350 - 130
KQ706 HRE - NBO: 210 - 600

Fly Kumba, a new private airline based in Zimbabwe is set to take off in September. The airline intends to provide Harare-Johannesburg service among other domestic and regional routes.

Virgin Nigeria took delivery of its second E190 last week.

Etihad Airways will begin service to Cape Town, South Africa from its base in Abu Dhabi on September 30. Flights will operate daily via Johannesburg.

EY602 AUH - JNB: 2220 - 455
EY602 JNB - CPT: 625 - 825

EY601 CPT- JNB: 1050 - 1250
EY601 JNB- AUH: 1355 - 0010

Brussels Airlines has placed its code on Lufthansa’s service to Libreville, Gabon, while the latter has placed its code on the former’s service to Entebbe, Uganda.

The EU has removed TAAG from its blacklist of airlines banned from serving Europe, under the condition that it operates up to 10 flights to Lisbon, Portugal using its B772 aircraft.

Kenya Airways will reportedly announce new service to Gaborone, Botswana shortly. Flights are expected to operate 3x per week.

Air Madagascar started service to Guangzhou, China from its base in Antananarivo on Monday. Flights are operated 2x per week on Mondays and Fridays via Reunion and Bangkok.

MD018 TNR - RUN: 1450 - 1710
MD018 RUN - BKK: 1810 - 540
MD018 BKK - CAN: 720 - 1040
MD019 CAN - BKK: 1500 - 1645
MD019 BKK - RUN: 1825 - 2340
MD019 RUN - TNR: 0040 - 105

Air Botswana has added a third weekly flight between Gaborone, Botswana and Harare, Zimbabwe. The new flight operates on Saturdays in addition to the current service offered on Mondays and Wednesdays.

South African has increased service to Lagos, Douala and Buenos Aires as follows:
- Lagos, Nigeria will be served daily, up from 4x per week
- Douala, Cameroon will be served 3x per week, up from two
- Buenos Aires, Argentina will be served 3x per week, up from two

British Airways will increase service to Entebbe, Uganda from Heathrow from the current three to five flights per week. The changes, which take effect on October 28, will also see the airline operating on a new schedule that sees the flight leaving Heathrow in the morning. Flights will operate out of Heathrow on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

BA63 LHR - EBB: 1045 - 1910
BA62 EBB - LHR: 2135 - 655

Emirates will add two weekly flights to Mauritius from Dubai on June 27 bringing its weekly total to 9 flights. The new flights will operate on Thursdays and Saturdays.

EK3705 DXB - MRU: 1020 - 1645
EK3706 MRU - DXB: 1830 - 100

Lufthansa has added a second weekly flight to Luanda, Angola. Flights operate on Thursdays and Sundays using A343 aircraft.

Royal Air Maroc has signed an agreement with ATR for the purchase of four ATR 72-600s and two ATR 42-600s. The airline will lease four ATR 72-200s while it awaits delivery of the purchased aircraft in 2011.

Lufthansa will begin new service to Libreville, Gabon on July 15. Flights will operate 5x per week on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesday, Thursdays and Saturdays using A346 aircraft.

LH566 FRA - ACC: 1100 - 1530
LH566 ACC - LBV: 1615 - 1915
LH567 LBV - ACC: 2055 - 2150
LH567 ACC - FRA: 2300 - 725

Virgin Nigeria will take delivery of one 96-seat E-190 and one 76-seat E-170 this month.

Arik Air launched new service to Freetown in Sierra Leone, Banjul in Gambia and Dakar in Senegal from Lagos, Nigeria last week. The Lagos - Freetown - Banjul - Dakar routed flights are operated 4x per week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Friday and Sunday using B73G aircraft.

W3077 LOS - FNA: 800 - 1015
W3077 FNA - BJL: 1055 - 1220
W3077 BJL - DKR: 1300 - 1400
W3078 DKR - BJL: 1500 - 1600
W3078 BJL - FNA: 1640 - 1805
W3078 FNA - LOS: 1845 - 2300

Afrijet Airlines has signed an agreement with ATR for the order of four 68-seat ATR-72s.

Virgin Nigeria launched new service between Abuja, Nigeria and Accra, Ghana last week. Flights are operated 2x per week on Tuesdays and Fridays.

VK811 ABV - ACC: 2140 - 2210
VK812 ACC - ABV: 700 - 930

bmi has added its code on flights operated by Virgin Atlantic between London Heathrow and Nairobi, Kenya.

South African Airways will increase frequency on the Johannesburg, South Africa to Perth, Australia route to daily service on September 1.

Delta Airlines’ inaugural flight from Atlanta to Monrovia, Liberia which was set to start on June 8 has been shelved indefinitely “following a decision by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that the agency required more time to review these flights.”