Uncategorized

Berlin flights cancelled due to strike

Most flights at Berlin’s Tegel and Schönefeld airports will be cancelled on Friday as ground handling staff strike in support of a pay claim. Ground staff will walk off the job from 04:00 on Friday until 05:00 on Saturday, the Verdi union said after a ballot of members voted 98.6 percent for industrial action. Lufthansa said it has cancelled all …

Read More »

International airlines boycott Kaduna Airport as Abuja Airport closes

Abuja’s Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport officially closed yesterday for a six-week repair. The closure will last six weeks to allow for a comprehensive maintenance of the airport runway, according to the Nigerian government. The decision to shut the airport and divert Abuja-bound flights to Kaduna, an airport used primarily for domestic flights about 160 km to the north, was taken …

Read More »

Nigeria advises citizens to avoid US trips as Trump issues new travel order

Nigeria is advising its citizens against all but essential travel to the United States because of the lack of clarity on new immigration rules, the government said on Monday (6 March). A special adviser to the president on foreign affairs, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said in a statement that Nigerians “without any compelling or essential reasons” should consider delaying. “In the last …

Read More »

Air France launches three weekly flights to Accra

Air France now offers three weekly flights on the Accra-Paris route. The flights, departing from Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, are operated on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. “These three weekly flights will strengthen Air France’s presence in Africa as well as the Air France-KLM Group’s presence, as KLM already flies daily from Amsterdam to Accra,” Frédéric Gagey, Chairman and CEO of …

Read More »

Kenya to start direct US flights after security clearance

Kenyan airlines have been granted security clearance by US authorities for direct flights to the United States, Kenya’s minister of transport said on Thursday, having improved infrastructure at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Kenya now has Category 1 security and safety status and hopes that will allow it to boost trade with the U.S. and increase its share of American …

Read More »

Renaissance opens its first hotel in Sub-Saharan Africa in Lagos

  Renaissance Hotels, a worldwide brand of hotels and resorts owned by Marriott International, has announced the opening of its first hotel in Sub-Saharan Africa – the Renaissance Lagos Ikeja Hotel located in Nigeria’s commercial centre. Mark Satterfield, chief operating officer, Middle East and Africa, Marriott International said: “We are delighted to mark the debut of Renaissance Hotels in Nigeria …

Read More »

Gambia: British tour operator evacuating holidaymakers

British tour operator Thomas Cook started evacuating nearly 1,000 holidaymakers from Gambia on Wednesday (18 January) after President Yahya Jammeh declared a state of emergency on his final day in office, increasing the chances of civil unrest. In a statement on its website, Thomas Cook said it had activated its contingency plans and was laying on extra flights in the …

Read More »

Ethiopian Airlines announces new flights to link Africa and China

Ethiopian Airlines has concluded preparations for new flight links to Chengdu, the capital of China’s Sichuan province. The carrier will launch the three weekly flights on 3 June 2017. Chengdu is the seventh largest city in China and is the country’s western centre of logistics, commerce, science, and technology, as well as a hub of transportation, manufacturing, and communication. Group …

Read More »

Nigeria changes date for closure of Abuja’s airport

Nigeria plans to close the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in the capital Abuja for six weeks from 8 March to repair its runway, the aviation ministry said on Tuesday, 3 January, pushing the move back later than previously scheduled. No reason was given for the change of date. The closure is to allow extensive runway repairs which will last for six …

Read More »

Lufthansa takes over Brussels Airlines

Lufthansa said on Thursday it was exercising an option to buy the remaining 55 per cent of Brussels Airlines for 2.6 million euros ($2.7 million), and integrate it as a subsidiary of Eurowings, in a move seen to further strengthen the budget carrier’s market position. The purchase was previously approved last September by the Board of Lufthansa Group. The German …

Read More »

Interview: “Africa is a very promising market for civil aviation,” says Chokri Wallani, Director, Tunisair Germany

Tunisair, founded as a state-owned airline in 1948, has a fleet of about 30 aircraft. Most of them are of the A320 family as well as the Boeing 737 type. Recently, the company expanded their fleet through the delivery of two new A330s which are serving routes with more than four hours flying time. Chokri Wallani (53) is the country director of Tunisair …

Read More »

First cruise ship docks in Tunisia since 2015 attack

A celebratory band played Thursday 6 October as a cruise liner docked in the port of Tunis for the first time since a March 2015 jihadist attack killed 21 tourists in the capital. The German-operated MS Europa motored into La Goulette with 350 passengers on board for a one-day stopover. The tourists, cameras at the ready, were greeted by a …

Read More »

Turkish Airlines ultra-modern arrival lounge in İstanbul

Three years ago, Turkish Airlines opened its new arrival lounge at the İstanbul Atatürk International Airport, offering its premium passengers the opportunity to freshen up on arrival. Passengers of the carrier have since been enjoying the superb comfort offered by the ultra-modern facility. The concept of the arrival lounge, according to Turkish, is to meet the needs of their guests …

Read More »

NIDOE promotes Nigerian tourism in Vienna

Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Europe (NIDOE) held a two-day event in Vienna in July to promote the Nigeria tourism sector. The event was declared open by the Chargé d’Affaires of the Nigerian Embassy in Austria, Gazing Dangtim, after a welcome address by the NIDOE Austria chair, Oluyemi Ogundele, who said: “Nigeria could generate foreign exchange, provide employment and accelerate rural …

Read More »

Tips for first time travellers to Ghana

Our Associate Publisher Bugs Steffen, who has been travelling to Ghana for more than 30 years, writes on the interesting places to visit in Accra and beyond. People often ask me what would be THE thing to do and what would have to be included in the must-see list of things if one were to go on a holiday to …

Read More »

Cape Town – Suspended between Past and Future

Cape Town’s hypermodern airport welcomes visitors with its shiny and squeaky clean appearance. Everything is well-organised and immigration formalities swiftly and efficiently dealt with. And yet something seems to be missing and soon it becomes obvious: there are hardly any Black Africans. This jars with the idea of an African country. The drive to the city deepens the impression of …

Read More »