Aviation Tanzania

Bombardier Aerospace and RwandAir of Kigali, Rwanda Yesterday (February 27)  celebrated the delivery of a dual-class Q400 NextGen turboprop airliner to the African airline. .  Jean Paul Nyirubutama, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, RwandAir, accepted the aircraft during a delivery ceremony at Bombardier’s Toronto site where the Q400 NextGen aircraft is manufactured. The ceremony was attended by Bombardier Commercial Aircraft executives and many of the employees involved in the production of the aircraft.  “We have been eagerly awaiting the delivery of this superb dual-class, 67-seat aircraft,” said Mr. Nyirubutama. “By offering similar cabin amenities on the Q400 NextGen aircraft and on our recently acquired dual-class Bombardier CRJ900 NextGen regional jets, the two complementary aircraft types will provide seamless passenger service, permitting us to align our total fleet strategy towards a unified passenger experience.  “The Q400 NextGen aircraft will p

An Airbus A380 superjumbo belonging to Australian airline Qantas collided with a Boeing 747-700 jumbo from the same airline while being towed at Los Angeles International airport late Thursday. No passengers were onboard either of the large jets, but the wingtips of both aircraft were damaged and two long-haul flights to Australia were cancelled, the airline and airport said. “An investigation is in progress” into the accident, which happened on a maintenance ramp at about 9.30 p.m. local time Thursday (12.30 a.m. ET Friday), LAX said in a statement. “A Qantas A380 wing tip clipped a parked Qantas Boeing 747-400 wing tip causing damage to both aircraft,” the statement said. “No passengers were on board either plane. No injuries occurred.” Qantas apologized for the inconvenience passengers, who it said were being put up in hotels overnight. “Both aircraft have been assessed by engineers and as a result the 27 February QF94 [to Melbourne] and QF16 [to Brisbane] have

Europe's largest aerospace group, Airbus, has announced a rise in full-year profits and says it will increase output of its A320 jets. Net income rose 21% to 3.6bn euros ($5bn; £3bn) in 2013, a year when Airbus delivered a record 626 planes. Revenues rose 5% to 59.3bn euros. Airbus said it expected to deliver a similar number of planes this year. It also announced it would increase production of its A320 jets to 46 planes a month from 42 by 2016. "Based on the healthy market outlook for our best-selling A320 family and following a comprehensive assessment of our supply chain's readiness to ramp-up, we are ready to go to rate 46 by Q2 2016," said Tom Williams of Airbus. "With a record backlog of over 4,200 A320 family aircraft... we have a solid case to increase our monthly output to satisfy our customers' requirement for more of our fuel efficient aircraft." Airbus also said it would deliver its first A350 jet to Qatar Airways before the e

The chances of ATR gaining quick approval from both its shareholders for a new large turboprop aircraft appear remote; suggest comments made by Airbus Group Chief Strategy Officer Marwan Lahoud at the  company’s annual press conference in Toulouse. According to Lahoud, Airbus Group is not ready to clear the 90-seat project for now. “We have no divergence with Finmeccanica except for the timing,” Lahoud says. “We want to enjoy the success [of ATR], and any new project would have an adverse effect [on profits].” ATR has been lobbying its shareholders, Airbus Group and Finmeccanica (each of which holds a 50% stake in the joint venture), to support development of a new turboprop which would have at least 90 seats and thus would be significantly larger than the ATR-72. Finmeccanica has been supportive of the proposal, but Airbus Group is hesitant. For such a project, ATR would likely not only have to rely on significant engineering know-how from its corporate parents,

Travelling to Pemba, Zanzibar will now be a lot less hassle than before as Tropical Air resumed its flights to Pemba last friday    21-Feb-2014 .  For so many years travelling to Pemba has been an issue due to lack of scheduled flights and travel by sea has been the only reliable means to reach to pemba.However the Nungwi bay has always known to have  stormy weather causing   tragic marine accidents  from time to time, hence raising the need for air travel. According to Tropical Air, flights will be 2 times a week, i.e Monday and Friday, and fares will be at TZS 70,000/= Zanzibar - Pemba and TZS 130,000/= Dar es salaam - Pemba. The green and hilly island of Pemba is one of the best scuba diving destinations in the world. Tourist attractions include  Water Sports ;  Tours & Excursions ;  Natural Attractions ;  Historical Sites  etc. For more information about tropical air kindly visit http://www.tropicalair.co.tz

Low-cost airline fastjet  has recruited  Jimmy Kibati as general manager, East Africa , effective 17th March.  He joins from Kenya Airways where he  he last served as A cting commercial director.   Jimmy Kibati will for the time being be based in Dar es Salaam, from where the airline presently flies to 4 domestic destinations, Kilimanjaro, Mwanza, Zanzibar and Mbeya and two international destinations, Johannesburg and Lusaka.  ‘ I am absolutely delighted that we have recruited such a high calibre airline executive to spearhead FastJet’s expansion in East Africa. Jimmy’s vast experience in the East African aviation market will be invaluable as we fulfill our goal of becoming a truly pan-African low cost airline.Jimmy’s appointment underlines the confidence which Fastjet’s track record has generated within the industry ’, said Ed Winter,Fastjet's Interim chairman and CEO, based in London. According to wolfganghthome.wordpress.com, Jimmy started his aviation career fresh out of

Ethiopian Airlines' strategic partner for the southern Africa region, Malawian Airlines, has launched its first international flight to Johannesburg on 17 February 2014. Malawian will operate daily from Lilongwe to Johannesburg, with a stopover in Blantyre, with a brand new B737-800 with Sky Interior and a 154 seat capacity configured in two classes, Business and Economy. As part of its strategy to set up multiple hubs in Africa in line with its 15 year strategic roadmap, Vision 2025, Ethiopian has partnered with the Malawian Government and private interests in the country to establish Malawian Airlines in Lilongwe. Ethiopian has 49% equity stake as well as the technical and management contract for the new airline.  Lilongwe is now the 3 rd   hub of Ethiopian for Southern Africa region, after Lomé, which has been serving for the last 4 years as a hub for the West African region  through  a partnership with ASKY Airlines. "Ethiopian is first and foremost a Pan

Ethiopian Airlines is pleased to announce that it has received the 2013 "GOLD Level Boeing Performance Excellence Award" for its outstanding performance at the Wire Kits Harness Manufacturing Plant. This is the second Gold award the plant has received from Boeing. The Boeing Company issues the award annually to recognize suppliers who have achieved superior performance. Ethiopian established the aircraft wire production plant in July 2009. The plant manufactures certified seat to seat aircraft interior wires of different types and supplies them to Boeing, which uses the wires for 737, 747, 767 and 777 jet aircraft. Yet, the majority of the wires, close to 85%, are produced for the ultra-long range 777-200 LRs. "Obtaining Gold level Boeing performance excellence award is a testimony of Ethiopian high standard and capabilities in the skill driven aviation industry. The pursuit of exc

Fastjet, Africa's low-cost airline, has announced that it is increasing capacity on its recently launched Dar es Salaam to Lusaka (Zambia) route in response to strong demand from its customers. From 15 April 2014, a Tuesday rotation will be added to the existing timetable, adding 50% more capacity on this popular route. Tickets for the additional flights will go on sale today.  The airline says that, the route which started operating on 1 February 2014, has already seen very high load factors; the Lusaka to Dar es Salaam leg has been particularly popular with a number of flights having sold-out completely. Commenting on the success of the route, Richard Bodin, Chief Commercial Officer of fastjet, said: "We are thrilled with the response to the launch of our Dar es Salaam to Lusaka route. Our research suggested that this was going to be a successful route with high demand but initial passenger numbers and interest have  exceeded expectations. We

The European manufacturer of turboprop aircraft ATR continues to deploy its support offer for air operations with the development of its onboard Single-point Performance Software (SPS) computation application for the iPad.  This software, available at Apple Store, allows ATR pilots to compute their take-off and landing parameters in real time and conditions, and also to edit, sign and send their weight and balance sheets. The development of this software for the iPad is part of the aircraft manufacturer’s initiative to meet the new demands of airlines which are now in favor of using the iPad as an Electronic Flight Bag (EFB). SPS is currently available for operators of ATR -500s and -600s. The weight and balance modules will progressively be available for all the versions of the ATR aircraft.   In addition to this development, ATR is also looking to enable the installation of the iPad in the cockpit in “class II” mode. The installation, optional and als

Ethiopian Airlines flight 702 passengers, on scheduled service departing from Addis Ababa on 17 February 2014 at 00:30 (local time) and scheduled to arrive in Rome at 04:40 (local time), were forced to proceed to Geneva,Switzerland on Monday morning after being hijacked by the plane's own co-pilot. Sources report that, the co-pilot took control of the plane by locking the cockpit door when the main pilot took a bathroom break. He then proceeded to overshoot Rome, where the flight was scheduled to land, before heading over 400 miles away to the Swiss city of Geneva. The first officer then reported the hijacking to airport transponders. The aircraft ET-AMF, a Boeing 767-300ER, circled around Geneva Airport (GVA) for quite a while. Repeatedly, “asylum” was requested. The aircraft was provided a military escort, and emergency crews were standing by at Geneva Airport ready to meet the aircraft.The co-pilot then landed at Geneva International Airport. It app

Airlines operating in Tanzania can now operate aircraft that are made in China following the signing of the Bilateral Airworthiness Agreement (BAA) between the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) and the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). On Thursday 13th February 2014,TCAA and CAAC have signed a pact to enable Chinese airlines operate in Tanzania. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in Dar es Salaam between TCAA Director General, Mr Fadhili Manongi and Deputy Administrator of CAAC, Mr Li Jian. "We are extremely pleased to Mr Li and his delegation for signing of the Bilateral Airworthiness Agreement (BAA) with TCAA," said Mr Manongi. "BAA underscores the fundamental obligations of the Chicago Contracting States in meeting safety objectives as enshrined in the International Civil Aviation Organisation safety objectives," noted Mr Manongi. He invited investors in aviation industry from China to bring their aircraft in Tan