Kenya Airways Resumes Flights to Abidjan !

Kenya Airways resumed scheduled flights to Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, after a month’s absence due to the political skirmishes that had rocked the country.
The Kenyan National Airline resumes the route with three flights a week linked with Dakar starting 2nd May 2011 operating on Monday, Thursday and Saturday.

Kenya Airways flights to Abidjan/Dakar were re routed Accra, Ghana on 1st April due to security reasons. But as a result of the improved political and security situation in Cote d’ivoire, Abidjan flights have been reinstated. Kenya Airways flies daily to Dakar, 3 times a week via Abidjan and 4 times a week via Bamako Mali.

Air Zimbabwe chairman Jonathan Kadzura quits Air Zimbabwe?

Air Zimbabwe chairman Jonathan Kadzura hangs in the balance as he has reportedly quit the troubled airline amid talk that he had fallen out of favour with Transport minister Nicholas Goche over the recent strike by the airline’s pilots.
Transport minister Nicholas Goche, to whom Kadzura is supposed to have submitted his resignation, could neither confirm nor deny speculation surrounding Kadzura’s tenure.
“You should ask him (Kadzura) on whether he has resigned or not,” he said in a telephone interview yesterday.
Kadzura gave a veiled response to businessdigest’s inquiry: “I haven’t really done that. I have heard that. But you can’t keep such news away from the public.”
However, impeccable sources within the aviation industry said Kadzura had tendered his resignation, but Goche had turned it down.   
The sources said Kadzura threw in the towel as the national carrier’s chair, frustrated that he was bypassed twice during critical meetings to resolve the pilots’ crippling job action.
The sources said the embattled Air Zimbabwe chair, who has witnessed two paralysing strikes within a space of six months since his appointment in 2009, tendered his resignation after government by-passed him and directly struck a deal with the pilots on April 14.
Goche, according to sources, did not accept the resignation although he is understood to have already lined up former Air Zimbabwe acting CEO Oscar Madombwe or ZTA chief Karikoga Kaseke to succeed Kadzura.
Kadzura is said to have fallen out favour with Goche over the manner in which he handled the strike. He was consistently quoted as saying the airline had no cash to meet the financial obligations, a development that is understood to have irked the pilots.
Kadzura, previously vice chairman, succeeded Mike Bimha as chairman after the former chair was appointed Industry and Commerce deputy minister at the formation of the inclusive government two years ago.
Information gathered by businessdigest indicates that at meetings convened last September to save the financially beleaguered airline Captain Courage Munyanyiwa represented the pilots, Patson Mbiriri stood in for
the shareholder (government) while immediate past Air Zimbabwe CEO Peter Chikumba was not party to the meetings.
“They agreed during these meeting that arrears owed to the pilots should be cleared within six months.
Government failed to meet this deadline, which resulted in the most recent strike.  Kadzura was again not actively involved on the negotiations, which could have annoyed him as board chairman. Acting CEO Innocent Mavhunga, Munyanyiwa and Mbiriri instead took part in these negotiations.”
Air Zimbabwe pilots went on a strike on last month  over non-payment of nearly US$3 million in outstanding salaries. The strike, according to the sources, was stopped after the parties agreed government would immediately pay 74% of the arrears, with the remainder being cleared by end of August this year.
Meanwhile, Munyanyiwa is understood to have quit the national carrier amid reports that he has joined a Middle East airline. 

Air France expands its offer of services to West Africa

Present for the past 75 years on the African continent such as Douala-Cameroon, Yaounde-Cameroon, Accra- Ghana, , Lagos-Nigeria, Air France is expanding its offer of services in West Africa with the launch of routes to Freetown and Monrovia and increased frequencies to Conakry.
Air France now flies to Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, twice weekly, on Tuesdays and Sundays, via Conakry; and to Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, twice weekly, on Wednesdays and Fridays via Conakry. Daily flights to Conakry will be operated on a non-stop basis four times weekly and via Nouakchott three times weekly.

Flights to Conakry, Nouakchott, Freetown and Monrovia will be operated by Airbus A330-200 with 208 seats, in Air France’s three long-haul cabin classes (40 seats in Business, 21 in Premium Voyageur and 147 in Voyageur).

“After the launch of flights to Kigali by KLM in October 2010, these two new Air France routes and the daily service to Guinea illustrate the confidence Air France KLM has in the development of the West African region. Our commitment to offer our customers even more choice and destinations goes hand in hand with our desire to accompany the growth in economic relations between the African continent and the rest of the world” explains Pierre Descazeaux, SVP Africa & Middle East, Air France KLM.

Aviation Experts Commend Air Zimbabwe For Securing New Plane

Aviation experts say Air Zimbabwe has moved in the right direction in securing use of a new Boeing 737-500 from Zambian-based Air Zambezi to update its aging fleet.
South African-based aviation expert Guy Leitch said indications are the plane has been secured on a long lease agreement with cabin crew, pilots and other staff. The state-owned carrier has been virtually crippled by a strike by pilots, engineers and cabin crew.
The striking pilots recently complained to Parliament they are flying outdated planes.

Leitch said that while the new model is more commercially viable, Air Zimbabwe management must put its house in order to achieve profitability.
“While it is commendable that the airline has secured a new plane, it should also address management problems that have led to the current strike," Leitch said.

Zimbabwe: A World of Wonders..to Launch Brand At South African Tourism Expo

Zimbabwe will launch its tourism brand, Zimbabwe: A World of Wonders, at the Indaba Tourism Expo to be held in Durban, South Africa, from May 7 to 10.
This is one of the biggest promotions on the tourism industry in Africa. It is to be held at Durban's Albert Luthuli Convention Centre.
In an interview, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority head of public relations, events and protocol, Mr Sugar Chagonda, said the tourism expo would create a platform for Zimbabwe to launch its brand on a continental scale.
"South Africa is among Zimbabwe's major source markets and remains the major focus for tourist arrivals, accounting for 70 percent of tourist arrivals in Zimbabwe from Africa.
"The Indaba, therefore, becomes an expedient forum for us to launch our Zimbabwe: A World of Wonders brand," he said.
The Zimbabwe tourism delegation to South Africa will be led by the ZTA chief executive Mr Karikoga Kaseke and will include tourism operators.
About 30 companies are expected to exhibit at the expo, among them Rainbow Tourism Group, Khanondo Safaris, Shearwater Adventures and Chikwenya Safari Lodge.
Apart from the brand launch, the travel expo offers an opportunity to increase tourist arrivals from South Africa, to identify and recruit media and buyers for this year's Sanganai/Hlanganani expo and to establish strategic partnerships with the travel trade and media from different source markets.
The Great Indaba promotes a wide variety of Southern African tourism products and services.
Mr Chagonda said the expo provides Zimbabwe with a great opportunity to meet key tour operators from South Africa with packages to Victoria Falls and other neighbouring countries promoting Africa from the international source markets.
"The major objective this year is to launch the brand, 'Zimbabwe A World of Wonders' during Indaba, following successful brand launches in the United Kingdom, China and Germany earlier this year, respectively.
"Given the negative perception about Zimbabwe within the public and the travel agencies, the brand launch serves as a platform for telling the true and detailed story of Zimbabwe," he said.
South Africa is one of the target markets, with a population of 50 million, according to the national census of 2001.
It is a major source market with great potential to grow faster than most source markets, given its proximity to, historical and trade links with Zimbabwe.
Last year, there were 1 368 234 visitors from South Africa to Zimbabwe, compared with 912 000 in 2009.

Air Zimbabwe announces fleet renewal

Air Zimbabwe said Tuesday it would retire its entire fleet of Boeing 737-200 aircraft and replace them with new planes.

The state-owned carrier has three Boeing 737-200 planes, which it says are now too old and obsolete to operate.

In a statement, the airline said it would acquire new aircraft and lease more modern ones as part of an ambitious fleet renewal planned.

Last week, Air Zimbabwe leased a Boeing 737-500 plane from Air Zambezi of Zambia to operate on domestic and regional routes.

"This (the lease) is part of a fleet replacement programme which will see the gradual phasing out of the entire B737-200 fleet the airline has been operating," Innocent Mavhunga, the airline's chief executive, said.

The carrier is presently paralysed by a month-old strike by pilots and cabin crew over unpaid salaries and allowances amounting to US$12 million

Air Zimbabwe leases aircraft from Zambia for its domestic and regional routes.

Zimbabwe - Air Zimbabwe said Tuesday it had leased aircraft and flight crews from Zambia after reaching a deadlock with its striking pilots and cabin crews. Zimbabwe's airline's pilots and flight attendants went on strike over three weeks ago, demanding payment of overdue salaries and allowances amounting to US$ 12 million. Despite the strike being ruled illegal by the courts, the striking workers have refused to go back to work, insisting on payment of their salaries and allowances. Air Zimbabwe, which is saddled with huge debts of more than US$ 100 million, has said it was unable to settle the salary arrears and appealed to the workers to go back to work to save the airline from imminent collapse.

Airline chairman, Jonathan Kadzura, said Air Zimbabwe had leased aircraft and cabin crews from Zambezi Airlines of Zambia to service domestic and regional routes as a stop-gap measure.

He said domestic routes to be covered were from the capital, Harare, to the second city of Bulawayo and the country's tourism hub, the Victoria Falls.

Among the regional routes would be South Africa and DR Congo, as international routes to London and Beijing, among others, remain unserviced.