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Aviation News

Three more South African airports to reopen

By: Rebecca Campbell 17th July 2020 The Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) has assured that East London, George and Kimberley airports are fully ready to resume operations. On Thursday Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula announced that the three regional airports located in the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Northern Cape provinces... →

World’s biggest remaining operator of Boeing 747s to immediately retire the type

By: Rebecca Campbell 17th July 2020 UK private-sector national flag carrier British Airways (BA), the world’s largest current operator of the renowned Boeing 747 ‘Jumbo jet’, has announced that it was going to immediately retire its entire fleet of the famous type. BA has a fleet of 31 of the Jumbo jets, all being 747-400 models.... →

Covid-19 air travel restrictions have reduced accuracy of global weather forecasts

By: Rebecca Campbell 17th July 2020 The severe disruption to commercial air traffic caused by travel bans and national lockdowns imposed by countries to counter the Covid-19 pandemic has had an unexpected side-effect: a decline in the accuracy of weather forecasts. It is not generally realised that airliners collect and relay data... →

Drones used to combat spread of water-sapping alien trees in semi-arid Karoo

By: Donna Slater 17th July 2020 Drones are being used by the agricultural community in the Western Cape, and more specifically the semi-arid Karoo region, where water resources are under strain, to fight invasive and water-hungry alien plant species. Southern Cape Landowners Initiative’s (SCLI’s) Cobus Meiring explains that,... →

Kammanassie farmer Morné Jonker with the drone sprayer used to fight alien vegetation

Gordhan, Mboweni commit in letter to obtain funding for SAA

By: News24Wire 16th July 2020 In a letter sent to the business rescue practitioners of South African Airways (SAA) late on Wednesday evening, Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan and Finance Minister Tito Mboweni have committed to obtain funding for the State-owned airline's short, medium and long-term requirements.... →

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan

Drones Council launched to expedite advancement of regulatory environment

By: Donna Slater 15th July 2020 The Drone Council South Africa (DCSA) was launched on July 15 with its first webinar to update global stakeholders in the private and public sectors on progress being made in the drones industry, both internationally and in South Africa. The DCSA was formed in part to address South Africa’s... →

Unions divided on approval of SAA business rescue plan

By: Rebecca Campbell 15th July 2020 There has been mixed reaction from unions representing employees of South African Airways to the approval of the business rescue plan for the financially-embattled State-owned national flag carrier. The plan was approved by 86% of the airline’s creditors in a vote on Tuesday. The approval of the... →

Public Enterprises DG argues saving SAA will be good for the country

By: Rebecca Campbell 14th July 2020 The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) has released the text of the remarks made at the meeting of the creditors of State-owned national flag carrier South African Airways (SAA) on Tuesday, by its acting director-general, Kgathatso Tlhakudi. SAA is under business rescue and at the meeting the... →

Public Enterprises welcomes yes vote for SAA rescue plan, announces interim CEO

By: Rebecca Campbell 14th July 2020 The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) welcomed the outcome of the creditors’ vote on the proposed business rescue plan for State-owned South African Airways (SAA). The financially beleaguered national flag carrier is under business rescue. In the vote on Tuesday, 86% of the creditors voted... →

Kenya announces that it is going to re-open its airspace

By: Rebecca Campbell 14th July 2020 The Kenyan government announced on Monday that it was going to re-open the country’s commercial aviation sector and allow the resumption of both domestic and international flights, Logistics Update Africa has reported. Domestic flights will restart on Wednesday (July 15) and international flights... →

Pilots trying to squeeze SAA dry, says government ahead of crucial creditors vote

By: News24Wire 14th July 2020 The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) has accused the South African Airways Pilots Association (SAAPA) of trying "to squeeze the last resources out" of South African Airways ahead of a crucial vote by creditors of the airline on a proposed business rescue plan, scheduled for Tuesday. A vote... →

Public Enterprises urges yes vote for SAA business rescue plan

By: Rebecca Campbell 13th July 2020 The Department of Public Enterprises has called on the stakeholders in financially-embattled State-owned airline South African Airways to vote in favour of the proposed business rescue plan for the carrier. The main stakeholders are the creditors of, and the unions representing workers at, SAA.... →

Public Enterprises warns SAA pilots that their business rescue proposals are unaffordable

By: Rebecca Campbell 10th July 2020 The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) has expressed its appreciation for the cooperation and commitment of the pilots of South African Airways (SAA), expressed through the SAA Pilot’s Association (SAAPA), during the business rescue process for the beleaguered State-owned national flag... →

Unions win important Labour Appeal Court victory in SAA retrenchments case

By: Rebecca Campbell 10th July 2020 In a joint statement, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) and the South African Cabin Crew Association (Sacca) have welcomed the dismissal, by the Labour Appeal Court, of the appeal by the Business Rescue Practitioners (BRPs) of South African Airways (SAA) against a Labour... →

Drones being used to help governments fight the Covid-19 pandemic

By: Donna Slater 10th July 2020 With the onset of Covid-19, technology has come to the fore, as people have been forced to work from home or increasingly remotely to ensure physical distancing, thereby increasing reliance on remote, and even autonomous, methods of conducting duties, with keen interest in the potential use of... →

Global airline body urges major economies to support sustainable aviation fuel

By: Rebecca Campbell 9th July 2020 The International Air Transport Association (Iata), which is the representative body of the global airline industry, has called on the International Energy Agency (IEA) to give priority to investment in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Iata made this appeal ahead of the IEA’s Clean Energy... →

South African airline announces successful repatriation of South Africans from Middle East

By: Rebecca Campbell 9th July 2020 South African private-sector airline company CemAir has announced the successful conclusion of a repatriation flight which it had operated, bringing South Africans home from Middle Eastern and African countries. The flight, using a CRJ900 90-seat jet airliner (usually employed for regional... →

Passengers urged to complete health forms prior to leaving for the airport

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 8th July 2020 Management of the OR Tambo International Airport has appealed to passengers to ensure the required traveller health questionnaire is completed before arrival at the entrance to the domestic terminal. Airport spokesperson Samukelo Khambule says the airport is facilitating greater numbers of... →

DPE welcomes revised SAA business rescue plan

By: Simone Liedtke 8th July 2020 The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) has welcomed the publication of a revised Business Rescue Plan for South African Airways (SAA) and has urged creditors, employees and stakeholders to vote in favour of the plan next week. As the shareholder on behalf of government, the DPE says the plan... →

Public Enterprises reports nearly all unions have withdrawn objections to SAA packages

By: Rebecca Campbell 8th July 2020 The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) has announced that all but one of the unions representing staff at South African Airways (SAA), plus the representatives of the non-unionised staff, have now stated that they would not object to the DPE or SAA offering voluntary severance packages (VSPs)... →

Solar energy offers benefits for airports

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 7th July 2020 Airports in Africa have the opportunity to implement solar energy projects that will have various benefits, ranging from environmental to financial, speakers said during an Africa Solar Industry Association (AFSIA-hosted) webinar on July 7. Barrett Energy principal Stephen Barrett said solar... →

Emirates continues to restore its SkyCargo network

By: Rebecca Campbell 7th July 2020 Air cargo operator Emirates SkyCargo, part of the Emirates airline group, has announced that it is this month resuming operations to another 14 cities around the world. This will take the total number of cities it serves to 100. The 14 additional cities that will now be served are Accra, Algiers,... →

Kenya Airways plans to cut back to meet Covid-19 crisis

By: Rebecca Campbell 7th July 2020 An internal Kenya Airways memo from its CEO, Allan Kilavuka, dated July 3 and leaked to the Reuters news agency by July 6, stated that Kenya’s national flag carrier was going to have to downsize in order to survive the crisis created by the Covid-19 pandemic. Kenya halted all commercial air... →

A Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner of Kenya Airways

Public Enterprises calls on unions to agree among themselves on SAA’s future

By: Rebecca Campbell 7th July 2020 The Department of Public Enterprises has urged unions representing employees of financially-embattled State-owned airline South African Airways to hold bilateral meetings among themselves to establish an agreed future for the carrier. SAA was under business rescue and its creditors were scheduled... →

Numsa, Sacca to take legal action to prevent SAA liquidation; call for Mboweni to be fired

By: African News Agency 5th July 2020 The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) and the South African Cabin Crew Association (Sacca) intend to take legal action to prevent the liquidation of South African Airways (SAA), and have urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to fire Finance Minister Tito Mboweni. Numsa and Sacca... →

Greater drone deployability in Africa requires regulatory allowances, supply chain integration

By: Donna Slater 3rd July 2020 Drones are being successfully deployed to support medical and humanitarian projects across Africa, but for a greater, more sustainable impact, they will need to be fully integrated into supply chains within an enabling regulatory environment, according to panellists who spoke during a webinar on... →

Air transport body calls on African and Middle Eastern governments to end quarantine

By: Rebecca Campbell 2nd July 2020 The global representative body of the airline industry, the International Air Transport Association (Iata), has called on African and Middle Eastern (AME) governments to abandon quarantine measures for arriving air passengers. These policies were doing grave damage to those countries’ aviation... →

Public Enterprises states that four SAA unions willing to accept severance packages

By: Rebecca Campbell 2nd July 2020 The Department of Public Enterprises reported on Thursday that four of the unions representing employees of State-owned national flag carrier South African Airways had indicated that they were willing to sign the voluntary severance packages being offered by the DPE to SAA employees. SAA is... →

Airbus announces widespread job cuts to deal with effects of Covid-19 crisis

By: Rebecca Campbell 1st July 2020 Europe-based global major aerospace group Airbus announced at the end of June that it was going to have to cut 15 000 jobs over the next 12 months – from now until the northern summer of 2021 – and resize the operations of its commercial aircraft business. These steps were being taken to meet the... →

Members of all Airbus’ current airliner families in flight – from front to rear: an A220-300, an A319neo, an A330neo, an A350-1000, a Beluga transport (developed for Airbus’ own use) and an A380

Photo by Airbus
Members of all Airbus’ current airliner families in flight – from front to rear: an A220-300, an A319neo, an A330neo, an A350-1000, a Beluga transport (developed for Airbus’ own use) and an A380

Publication of Comair business rescue plan postponed again

By: Rebecca Campbell 30th June 2020 On Tuesday afternoon the business rescue practitioners (BRPs) for Comair, Shaun Collyer and Richard Ferguson, announced that the group’s creditors had approved another extension for the publication date of the business rescue plan, to July 28. Comair is a private-sector airline group that... →

Iata reports tentative signs of recovery in air cargo market

By: Rebecca Campbell 30th June 2020 The global air cargo market displayed a small improvement in May, in comparison to April, the International Air Transport Association (Iata) has reported. Iata is the representative body for the world’s airlines and freighter aircraft operators. Measured in cargo (metric) ton-kilometres (CTKs),... →

Photo by Iata
Alexandre de Juniac

Comair business rescue practitioners request another extension

By: Rebecca Campbell 30th June 2020 The business rescue practitioners (BRPs) for private-sector airline group Comair have requested a further postponement in the publication of their business rescue plan. BRPs Shaun Collyer and Richard Ferguson, in a statement released by the JSE’s Stock Exchange News Service (SENS), have requested... →

US regulator approves next step in re-certifying Boeing 737 MAX

By: Rebecca Campbell 29th June 2020 The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has told Boeing that it can start test flights of its troubled 737 MAX single-aisle airliner with FAA pilots aboard, American media have reported. These test flights would be an important step towards re-certifying the aircraft to carry passengers. The... →

Unions slam public enterprises department over exit from SAA consultative forum

By: African News Agency 29th June 2020 The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and the South African Cabin Crew Association have slammed the decision by the department of public enterprises to abandon the leadership consultative forum set up to deliberate on troubled national carrier SAA. In a statement on Sunday, the... →

More South African airports to open as aviation industry gradually resume flights

By: News24Wire 29th June 2020 While more local airports will be allowed to operate for domestic flights from 1 July, all international passenger flights are prohibited except those flights authorised by Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula, and only for repatriation of South African citizens and medical evacuation. Mbalula made... →

Acsa reacts to downgrade, assures on financing

By: Rebecca Campbell 29th June 2020 State-owned Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) has stated that it “notes” the recent decision by ratings agency Moody’s Investor Service to down grade Acsa’s ratings and to change its outlook for the airports operator from “under review” to negative. Acsa, however, has also reported success in... →

Angolan national airline takes delivery of new Canadian regional airliner

By: Rebecca Campbell 29th June 2020 Angolan State-owned national flag carrier TAAG Angola Airlines (TAAG) has taken delivery of the first of six De Havilland Canada (DHC) Dash 8-400 twin turboprop airliners. The aircraft were ordered in June 2019 during the Paris Air Show. “We selected the Dash 8-400 aircraft to support our... →

Photo by De Havilland Canada
TAAG’s first DHC Dash 8-400 airliner

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