Africa

Airlines Uganda recruits Ethiopian 787 for long-haul routes after MRO ties up A330neos

Uganda Airlines is wet-leasing Boeing 787 aircraft from Ethiopian Airlines to restore long-haul routes after its two Airbus A330-800s had to undergo unscheduled maintenance. The airline has not indicated the nature of the maintenance, but the situation has added to upheaval at the carrier soon after it sought a change of leadership. Chief executive Jenifer…
Air transport Operations restored at Lagos after fire damages terminal building

Operations have been restored at Lagos’s Murtala Muhammed airport after a 23 February fire caused substantial damage to Terminal 1. Preliminary indications from the firefighting services indicate the blaze originated in a server room on the first floor of the terminal, and affected the departure hall, says the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria. It states…
Airlines United Nigeria to open New York charters with wet-leased Air Anka A330s

United Nigeria Airlines is intending to open transatlantic services this summer, with Turkish carrier Air Anka poised to offer capacity for the proposed routes. The Nigerian airline’s chair, Obiora Okonkwo, stated during a 12 February briefing – commemorating United Nigeria’s fifth anniversary – that the carrier “will fly direct to New York” by the end…
Safety Evidence of fin damage after Arik 737-700 suffers in-flight engine failure

Nigerian investigators are probing a serious Boeing 737-700 engine incident in which the powerplant’s nacelle was destroyed, with evidence indicating damage to the jet’s vertical fin as well. The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau says that the Arik Air aircraft experienced an “in-flight engine anomaly” while operating the Lagos-Port Harcourt route on 11 February, and diverted…
Safety Somalian Fokker 50 badly damaged after overrunning onto Mogadishu beach

Somalia’s civil aviation regulator states that all those on board a Fokker 50 have survived after the aircraft was badly damaged in an overrun at Mogadishu. The turboprop was carrying 55 people, says the Somali Civil Aviation Authority. It overran the end of runway 23 at around 13:17 on 10 February. Meteorological data from Mogadishu…
Airlines Harith buy-out ends ASL Aviation interest in South Africa’s FlySafair

An investment fund part-owned by the South African government is to acquire low-cost carrier FlySafair from its current shareholders, closing the chapter on a long-running row around foreign ownership of the airline.
Airlines EgyptAir starts taking delivery of 16 ordered A350s

Egyptian flag-carrier EgyptAir has received the first of 16 Airbus A350-900s ordered by the airline. The carrier signed for 10 of the type at the Dubai air show in 2023, and followed up with an agreement for six more last year. It will become the first operator of the twinjets in North Africa. The airline…
Airlines South African Airways edges back into ‘modest’ full-year profit

South African Airways Group has edged back into profitability with a net surplus of R155 million ($9.7 million), with the flag-carrier itself achieving a profit of R30 million. The company disclosed the financial performance for fiscal 2024-25 – which ended on 31 March last year – during its annual general meeting on 6 February. Its…
Air transport Air Algerie increases firm commitment to A330-900

Algerian flag-carrier Air Algerie has ordered another Airbus A330-900, the airframer’s latest backlog figures reveal. Air Algerie took delivery of its first A330-900 in November last year. The carrier had originally ordered five A330-900s and two A350-1000s in 2023 but subsequently amended it, dropping the A350s and taking three more A330s. Airbus’s official backlog for…