All Africa articles
-
News
Nigerian investigators probe Hawker 900XP dual-engine power loss
Nigerian investigators are probing an apparent dual-engine power loss involving a Hawker 900XP business jet bound for the Ghanaian capital Accra. The aircraft had departed Abuja on 6 December and had been climbing through 24,000ft towards 28,000ft when the crew reported an indication from the right-hand engine. Hawker 900XPs are ...
-
News
Ethiopian Airlines to manage DRC start-up joint venture Air Congo
Ethiopian Airlines has confirmed it is to manage a newly-launched carrier, Air Congo, for the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It will hold a 49% share in the airline while the government will have the 51% balance. Air Congo emerged in early December and its initial Boeing 737-800 ...
-
News
Flight-training programme among concerns behind Air Tanzania blacklisting
Air Tanzania’s blacklisting by the European Commission centres particularly on failure to maintain adequate control of its flight-training programme, and inability to understand the root causes behind safety deficiencies. The carrier, whose fleet includes some of the latest aircraft types, applied for third-country operator authorisation from the European Union Aviation ...
-
News
Namibia takes delivery of two Y-9E tactical transports
Namibia has become the first international customer of the Shaanxi Y-9E tactical transport, taking delivery of two examples.
-
News
Air Tanzania banned in latest revision to European blacklist
Air Tanzania has been formally blacklisted by the European Commission, following safety concerns identified at the flag-carrier. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has also denied third-country operator authorisation to the airline, a prerequisite for conducting services to European destinations. “We strongly urge Air Tanzania to take swift and decisive ...
-
News
Investigation opens as Allied 737 freighter damaged in Nigerian runway excursion
Nigerian investigators have opened an inquiry after a Boeing 737-400 freighter suffered a runway excursion while landing at Abuja. The twinjet – operated by Allied Air – had been arriving from Lagos at around 10:06 on 11 December. It skidded off the right-hand side of runway 22 and came to ...
-
News
SAA pilots start returning to work after suspending industrial action
Pilots at South African Airways have suspended their industrial action which has disrupted the carrier’s services since 5 November. The airline says the suspension took effect from 02:00 on 7 November, and it expects to reinstate its flying schedule fully on 8 December. SAA says this follows “successful negotiations” between ...
-
News
South African Airways rejigs schedule ahead of pilot strike
South African Airways has amended its schedule following the decision by cockpit crews to embark on industrial action from 5 December. It has published timetable changes for services between Johannesburg and Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth, as well as the Namibian capital Windhoek and Port Louis in Mauritius. SAA ...
-
News
SAA pilots threaten strike over salary demands despite carrier’s fragile finances
South African Airways is warning that it is not financially strong enough to support a salary demand from pilots, who have threatened to strike from 5 December. The carrier has been negotiating with the SAA Pilots Association, but claims the association’s initial request for a 30% wage increase – subsequently ...
-
News
Airlink finance head to lead carrier as veteran chief Foster steps down
South African regional carrier Airlink has named its finance head, de Villiers Engelbrecht, as the successor to long-term chief executive Rodger Foster who is stepping down next year. Foster has led the company for more than three decades since he co-founded the operation with Barrie Webb in 1992. But Airlink ...
-
Analysis
How the global military fleet shapes up in our 2025 World Air Forces review
Our annual World Air Forces directory – published in association with Embraer – details the military aircraft fleets of 161 nations, and analyses the main events of the last 12 months.
-
News
SAA claims positive full-year results for first time in over a decade
South African Airways has disclosed its full-year results for the fiscal year to March 2023, claiming a net profit of R252 million ($14 million). The carrier’s management board unveiled the performance during its annual general meeting in Johannesburg on 20 November. SAA emerged from business rescue in September 2021. But ...
-
News
Investigators probe SAA A330’s pitch oscillation during cruise
Investigators are probing an in-flight oscillation at cruise altitude which affected a South African Airways Airbus A330-300 operating a domestic service. The aircraft – flying from Cape Town to Johannesburg on 27 October – had been cruising at 41,000ft when it started to oscillate in pitch, between nose-up and nose-down. ...
-
News
Congo Airways wet-leasing pair of 737-800s as bridge capacity
Congo Airways is to lease a pair of Boeing 737s from Avia Solutions Group as part of an effort to restore capacity. Both aircraft are being taken on a six-month wet-lease from Avia’s KlasJet division. KlasJet says Congo Airways’ pair of Airbus A320s have been grounded for engine maintenance, and ...
-
News
Angola’s TAAG starts shifting flights to new Luanda airport
Angolan flag-carrier TAAG has commenced operations from the capital Luanda’s new Agostinho Neto international airport. The airline transferred its domestic Luanda-Cabinda flight to the new hub on 10 November, operating the initial service with a Boeing 737-700 before switching to a De Havilland Dash 8-400. Source: TAAG TAAG ...
-
News
ITA restarts flights to Libyan capital as EASA deems coastal airports less risky
Italian carrier ITA Airways is to open a service to the Libyan capital Tripoli, despite much of the country still considered risky for air transport. ITA intends to operate to Tripoli’s Mitiga airport, on the coast, rather than the city’s main international airport which lies some 13nm inland. The European ...
-
News
H225 continues oil and gas comeback with Westair lease deal
The Airbus Helicopters H225 has continued its incremental return in the oil and gas market with Westair Helicopters to lease a single offshore-configured example from Milestone Aviation Group.
-
News
EgyptAir A320 inquiry urges review of cockpit procedures to tackle oxygen fires
Investigators analysing the fatal loss of an EgyptAir Airbus A320 are recommending a review of cockpit firefighting procedures – particularly regarding oxygen-fuelled fires – and believe greater research is needed on alternative extinguishing agents to halon. The Egyptian air accident investigation commission’s recommendations draw on analysis by French counterpart BEA ...
-
News
Ethiopian Airlines receives first of four A350-1000s
Ethiopian Airlines has taken delivery of its first Airbus A350-1000, the initial example of the largest family member on the African continent. The airline is to receive three more -1000s along with another 11 A350-900s. Ethiopian, which has 21 A350s in its fleet, converted four previous -900 orders to the ...
-
News
EgyptAir A320 crash: Circumstances of oxygen leak and ignition source remain unclear
While French investigators believe an intense oxygen-fuelled cockpit fire brought down an EgyptAir Airbus A320 eight years ago, they have yet to determine fully the reasons for the oxygen leak and pinpoint the source of ignition. Investigation authority BEA has dismissed the Egyptian air accident commission’s official explanation – detonation ...