Ethiopian Airlines to open its third hub in Lusaka, Zambia

African aviation gigantic, Ethiopian Airlines, will soon open its third hub in Lusaka-Zambia, which will serve as a southern African regional center.

Making the announcement at the Ethiopian Airlines headquarters in Addis Ababa on Friday, chief executive officer Tewolge Gebremariam said Zambia had been selected to host the airline's regional centre owing to increased traffic demand and its geographical location.

“I am pleased to say that we plan to open our new hub in Zambia. This will be the third hub after the headquarters and another one which was opened in Lome (Togo, west Africa) last year.”

“Zambia is a major commercial destination and we recognize that we have the highest market share in your country,” he said.

Gebremariam further said the airline would this year introduce a direct flight between Lusaka and Addis Ababa without diverting to Harare.

“That plan is already underway, but we are waiting for our new 737-800 planes to arrive which will service that route,” he said. And Gebremariam announced that Ethiopian Airlines made a US $123 million in net profit last year.

He said the success recorded in 2010 had enabled the airline to add three new 777-200 Long Range (LR) Boeing aircraft to its fleet.

“We spent about US $750 million to purchase our new 777-200 LR jets. These are very successful Boeings with the main advantage of flying over 17 hours nonstop. The new jets will service the Addis Ababa - Beijing route,” Gebremariam said.

He further said Ethiopian Airlines had started the process of transforming to Ethiopian Aviation Group which shall consist of a group of companies with their respective profit centres providing passenger and cargo air transportation, aviation training, flight catering, maintenance and overhaul services.

He said this was contained in the Airline's vision 2025, which would also see passenger handling increase from the current estimation of 3 million to 18 million per year.

Meanwhile Gebremariam bemoaned the sharp increase in jet fuel prices owing to the unrest in Libya and other oil-producing countries.

“It will be very difficult for us to beat the US $123 million profit recorded last year because of the increase in jet fuel price from US $800 per barrel to US$1,110. This is mainly because of civil unrest in the Middle East and other oil-producing nations,” said Gebremariam.

Kenya Airways becomes Official Carrier of the Barclays Kenya Open 2011

Flag carrier and Pride of Africa,  Kenya Airways reaffirmed its commitment to development of sports in Kenya by announcing its partnership with Kenya Open Golf limited as the official carrier during this year’s edition of the Barclays Kenya Open, the 43rd edition of the Championship.

As the official carrier the airline will fly in all the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) officials who will be supervising and managing the tournament and will also offer discounted rates to the professional golfers and enthusiasts from various destinations to participate in the tournament at a sponsorship cost of Ksh 2.2 million.
Speaking during a media briefing Ms Nita Nagi, the Kenya Airways Area Manager confirmed that the airline had taken up the sponsorship in an effort to support the highly rated event which is key to promoting Golf Tourism in Kenya.
The tournament is expected to attract at least 150 professionals, scheduled to take place from March 31st to April 3rd at the Muthaiga Golf Club. The event continues to be a showcase of top flight international golf and attracts approximately 100 players from the European Tour, and 50 from within Africa.
Ms. Nagi also took the opportunity to appraise the media and golfing fraternity of the success of the KQ Golf Safari which concludes few days before the Barclays Kenya Open on the 26th March at Muthaiga Golf Club.
Over 200 golfers are expected to play at the KQ Golf Safari finale which has been played in 10 African countries including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Douala-Cameroon, Senegal, Ethiopia, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Malawi. In Kenya 12 qualifying rounds were held in various Golf club nights. 20 KQ Golf Safari country winners and the club night winners will join other KQ invited guests for the Grand Finale of the KQ Golf Safari2011.
Ms Nagi also announced that Kenya Airways had organized for the winners from all the countries that participated in the KQ Golf Safari series to participate in the Barclays Kenya Open Pro-am for the first time since the series began two years ago. She noted that Kenya Airways had identified sports tourism as a key area of growth and in particular golfing holidays and tourism since Kenya as a country has very many and beautiful golf courses.
“Globally, golf tourism earns 26 billion dollars annually and Kenya stands a good chance to get a slice of the pie,” she said adding that the airline would seek to work closely with partners in golfing events and the government to bring this dream to reality.
“Last year we saw the launch of the Kenya Golf Marketing Alliance to develop a golf marketing strategy that will enable the country organize world class golf events and the Kenya Open Championship joins the ranks of these formidable tourism attractions,” she said. This is the reason Kenya Airways decided to host all the winners from the KQ Golf Safari series to play in Barclays Kenya Open.
On receiving Kenya Airways sponsorship package, Mr S.R Ndegwa, Director KOGL said, “We are delighted with this partnership of Kenya Airways as the official airline to the 43rd Barclays Kenya Open golf championship.  The Golf tournament is an international championship attracting top golfers from Europe and across Africa making it the biggest international golf tournament in the region and this presents KQ with a platform to build strong relationships with golfers from across the world.”

Start you Career with Virgin Atlantic:: 450 New Jobs at Virgin Atlantic!

As a result of its increased fleet and departures Virgin Atlantic will see the creation of 450 new jobs, further proof of the airline’s good year of recovery.
As the airline this spring introduces its Manchester Airport to Las Vegas route, and it increases its flights to the Caribbean and Accra-Ghana, an additional 350 cabin crew positions will be created, as will 50 pilot positions, and another 50 positions in the company’s head office, some of which will be based at some UK airports.

Cameroon suspends Mobile Twitter for 'security reasons'

Douala-Cameroon's government has asked a cell phone service provider to suspend its mobile Twitter service for "security reasons," an activist at a media watchdog said Tuesday.
MTN Cameroon, one of the country's three cell service providers, shut down access to the micro-blogging site after receiving a request from the government, the Committee to Protect Journalists' Mohamed Keita wrote on the organisation's web site, citing a Tweet by an MTN marketing manager.
"For security reasons, the government of Cameroon requests the suspension of the Twitter SMS integration on the network," the marketing manager, Bouba Kaele, reportedly wrote in the Tweet, which was later deleted.
A subscriber to MTN Cameroon's mobile Twitter service told AFP the company had sent clients a message announcing the suspension, citing "reasons beyond (its) control."
The shut-down comes as President Paul Biya, in power since 1982, confronts calls for an uprising against him circulated via Internet and text messages over the past several weeks.
Government spokesman Issa Tchiroma, who is also the communication minister, told AFP he did not have "perfect knowledge of the situation" surrounding MTN's Twitter suspension.
But, he added, "I remind you of one thing: it is the government's responsibility to protect the nation."
South Africa-based MTN launched its mobile Twitter service in Cameroon in November. Some 50 subscribers used the service, according to local blogs and web sites. Twitter is still accessible in Cameroon via Internet.
The government has grown increasingly wary of the role Twitter and other social networks could play in sparking an Egypt- or Tunisia-style uprising, said the director of a local non-government organisation, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"The Cameroonian government dreads more and more the use of social networks to issue calls for resistance" against Biya's regime, she told AFP, adding that authorities have already issued warnings to MTN Cameroon and Orange-Cameroon, another provider.
Tchiroma said the communication and post and telecommunications ministries had called telecom companies to a meeting last week for a "dialogue with communicators," and planned to hold similar meetings with the country's bloggers, web site editors and TV and radio broadcasters.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) is planning to start charging an airport departure tax

The Civil Aviation Authority of  Zimbabwe (CAAZ) is planning to start charging an airport departure tax for both domestic and international passengers. The CAAZ said it has received authority from the country’s Ministry of Transport, Communication & Infrastructural Development to start changing US$30 for all international passengers and US$10 for domestic passengers, effective 1 April 2011. The tax will be collected at airport payment offices.

Ethiopian Airlines Cargo has won the African Cargo Airline of the Year Award for 2011.

The award, organised by the STAT Trade Times, was awarded at the Air Cargo Africa 2011 Conference held in Nairobi, Kenya, on February 24, 201, according to a press release published by the airline.

ET was nominated worldwide by readers of the STAT Trade Times, a monthly publication dedicated to covering the aviation, tourism, shipping, and transport industries, globally.

Ethiopian Airlines has won different prizes, including the NEPAD Transport Infrastructure Excellence Award from the African Airlines Association, in 2009, and the Corporate Achievement Award of Aviation & Allied Business, in 2008, for setting the pace in the development and growth of the African aviation industry. In the same year, it also won the Brussels Airport Company Award for the introduction of new routes and products as well as close cooperation with Brussels Airport in marketing activities.

ET made its maiden flight to Cairo 60 years ago and now flies to more than 39 cities in Africa, and a total of 60 worldwide.

Plans to enlarge Victoria Falls International airport !

Government is negotiating a deal with China Exim Bank that will see the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) getting funding to embark on the expansion of Victoria Falls International Airport before the end of the year.

 The move by CAAZ to embark on an expansion and refurbishment of the country`s airports which is currently under way, is expected to see the newly-refurbished facilities increase their passenger handling capacities, as well as handling bigger and wide-bodied aircrafts such as the Boeing 777 and Airbus A340.

 Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe General Manager, Mr. David Chawota, said once funding has been unveiled, his organization will immediately start the expansion project, adding that the Civil Aviation Authority will be completing the taxiway and runway at Harare International Airport in April and December respectively, while Joshua Mqabuko International Airport in Bulawayo will be operational by Independence Day next month.

 Victoria Falls International Airport mainly handles commercial flights operated on Boeing 737 and smaller aircrafts by Air Namibia, the national Air Zimbabwe, British Airways–Comair and South African Airways.

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