NEW SERVICE
Melbourne – V Australia has become the second Australian carrier to start scheduled services to South Africa with the first flight arriving recently. The carrier operates twice weekly schedules between Melbourne and Johannesburg using Boeing 777-30ERs. The photograph above shows V Australia’s brand new Boeing 777-300ER touching down at Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport recently on its inaugural twice-weekly service linking Melbourne with Africa’s financial capital.
“SLOW LOUNGES”
Johannesburg – Comair has unveiled its new “SLOW Lounges”. These are located at Johannesburg and Cape Town international airports, with Durban to launch later in the year. Access to these lounges is exclusive to qualifying British Airways Executive Club holders, British Airways Club (business class) passengers, RMB Private Bank clients, FNB platinum card holders and FNB Private Bank travellers. These lounges have been designed to provide a perfect sanctuary from the fast pace of travel and modern life. Features include a chef, a barista, a bar serving the finest South African wines, a library, a Nintendo games room, private meeting spaces and business facilities. In addition, Cape Town’s SLOW Lounge also contains an on-site Spa offering massages and wellness treatments
RWANDAIR RELAUNCH
Kigali – Rwandair, the national carrier of Rwanda, has formally relaunched its direct flights between Johannesburg and Kigali. This comes just two months after the carrier took delivery of two new Bombardier CRJ200 50-seat regional jets as part of a comprehensive fleet renewal programme that will also see the addition of a Boeing 737-800 and B767-300 to its fleet by year-end. The carrier operated four weekly schedules with the CRJ200 equipment to Johannesburg to start with, but this will increase with the delivery of the Boeing 737-800 later this month. Leading maintenance, repair and overhaul company, Lufthansa Technik, has been contracted to do aircraft maintenance.
ARIK AIR A330S
Lagos – Arik Air will introduce its newly delivered Airbus A330-200 on the Lagos- Johannesburg service, starting May 2. The aircraft replaces the single isle Boeing 737-800s currently operating the route.
DALIA LEGACY
Casablanca – Dalia Air, an executive jet operator, has taken delivery of a brand new Legacy 600 corporate jet.
THIRD EMBRAER
Luanda – SEAA (Serviços Executivos Aéreos de Angola) has taken delivery of an Embraer 145EP, completing the order it placed asome time ago with the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer.
MANGO TO BLOEM
Johannesburg – Low cost carrier, Mango, has added its first new destination since starting operations with the recent introduction of the Free State capital, Bloemfontein, to its route network. The services will eventually increase to five weekly frequencies but will initially only be operated three days per week with two frequencies each day between Johannesburg and Bloemfontein.
AIR MALI BOEING
Ougadougou – Air Mali has added a Boeing 737-800 to its fleet which was noted in service in Madrid and Paris-Orly recently.
IRS FOKKER
Lagos – IRS Airlines has added an additional Fokker 100 to its fleet as part of its continuing replacement of its legacy fleet of F28-4000s.
THIRD BOEING
Lusaka – Zambezi Airlines has acquired a third Boeing 737-500 as part of an expansion plan. The carrier also recently entered into a code sharing agreement with Kenya Airways.
CORPORATE SHUTTLE
Tripoli – Petro Air has added an Embraer 170LR to its fleet. The aircraft is operated on corporate shuttle services in support of Libya’s oil industry.
ARIK AIR DASH 8
Lagos – Arik Air has added two more Bombardier Dash 8-300s to its fleet, replacing its fleet of Fokker 50s that have all been returned to lessor, Denim Air.
FIRST B777-300ER
Cairo – EgyptAir has taken delivery of its first of five new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft on order.
