Tourism links boosted between Tanzania and the Gulf

Tourism links between the Gulf and Tanzania are being strengthened following The first Tanzanian tourism and investment forum, Tanzanian Tourism Conference MENA 2014 in Dubai.

The event was inaugurated by Mizengo Kayanza Peter Pinda, the Prime Minister of Tanzania at Le Meridian Hotel Airport. 

Organised by Consul General of Tanzania, and supported by Nakheel and Fly Dubai, the first Tanzania Tourism Conference MENA brought together ministers, experts and stakeholders to address government commitment towards improving tourism sector, business opportunities and investment climate in mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar.
In its first regional drive, the panel highlighted Tanzania Tourism Development Policies, Destination Marketing and Investment in Tourism infrastructures focusing on aviation and air transport facilities, real estate, hotels and accommodation facilities.
The conference marked its regional footprint with an interactive discussion presented by keynote speakers including Ms. Juliet Kairuki, Executive Director, Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC), Ms. Devota Mdachi, Managing Director, Tanzania Tourist Board, Salum Nassor, Executive Director, Zanzibar Investment Promotion Agency (ZIPA) and Eng. George Sambali, Project Manager/Asst. to DG, Tanzania Airports Authority (TAA).
“Turning insights into action is the purpose of this conference; Tanzania continues to be a safe haven for foreign investors and this forum is a catalyst to present abundance of opportunities across key tourism sector in Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar. We are confident that the changing landscape of tourism will provide effective prospects for investors in hospitality, infrastructure and aviation industries” said Omary Mjenga, Consul General of Republic of Tanzania, Dubai & Northern Emirates.
Tanzania Tourism Conference MENA aims to become an annual forum uniting investors, developers, tour operators and stakeholders from across the tourism sector in the MENA region. Tanzania Tourism Board will spearhead the campaign with regional and international roadshows planned in 2015.

CD&R completes investment in CHC

CD&R completes investment in CHC

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Funds affiliated with Clayton, Dubilier & Rice LLC (CD&R) have completed the third stage of CD&R’s investment in CHC Group Ltd. through the purchase of convertible preferred shares in a private placement.

Consistent with terms of an investment agreement that CHC and CD&R entered into on Aug. 21, CD&R has purchased an additional 100,000 of the preferred shares for a price of $100 million. These shares represent all of the preferred shares that were available in a rights offering to existing shareholders of CHC, an offering that was cancelled when participation by the existing shareholders failed to meet the minimum threshold for completion.

This purchase by CD&R follows the purchase of 116, 000 convertible preferred shares for a price of $116 million on Oct. 30, and the purchase of 384,000 convertible preferred shares for a price of $384 million on Nov. 12.

CHC plans to use proceeds from the investment primarily to reduce debt and other fixed charges.

Source and image: CHC Group

TUI extends its flights connections to Mauritius

After the inaugural flight of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner from London Gatwick Airport to Mauritius on the 28thof April 2014, Thomson Airways - the UK's third largest airline - is now extending its Mauritian connection to the Scandinavian market, with two flights per week. one from Sweden-Stockholm and one from Finland-Helsinki with an additional planned flight from Denmark-Copenhagen for the European Winter season of 2015/16.

The first direct flight from Sweden-Stockholm landed this morning at the SSR international airport at 8:15am with 269 passengers on board.  

 

Mrs Eivor Andersson, CEO of TUI Nordic , stated on this occasion:  “We are very proud to be back in Mauritius and especially as we are finally able to have a direct flight with our Dreamliner B-787 from Stockholm & Helsinki to Mauritius. We are greatly satisfied with our forward booking situation as we are at this moment looking at a load factor of 95% for the whole season – which is remarkable as our joint marketing efforts together with  the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority and the hotel partners in Mauritius has really paid off. And with such results we have now decided to add one more direct flight to Mauritius from Copenhagen which will take effect as from next winter season.” 

 

Furthermore, Mrs Eivor Anderson added that; “the aim of TUI Nordic is to establish a long term destination to Mauritius and a solid repeated customer base together with the local partners.  To succeed we therefore do need a stable price development and of course great customer feedback which we are sure that our partners in Mauritius will deliver during the next coming months.”

 

For Philippe Hitié, Managing Director of SummerTimes: “This clearly demonstrates the commitment of TUI Group towards our destination, which is becoming increasingly popular from major source markets. I wish to take this opportunity to thank all our partners, public & private sectors for their valuable support in order to successfully increase the airlift and our Tourists arrivals to Mauritius, which is indeed in great demand, whilst adding obvious benefits to our Mauritian Tourism Industry at large.”

ExecuJet starts helicopter operations from Cape Town base

ExecuJet Aviation Group has launched helicopter charter services from its Cape Town International Airport FBO, in partnership with offshore operator Acher Aviation.

ExecuJet will operate a six-passenger Bell 407 helicopter from Acher - an aircraft known for its reliability, speed, performance and maneuverability.
Director of Aviation Services, Mike Clark, said: “There has been an increasing number of requests for helicopter charter services in Cape Town. We are delighted we can now provide helicopter services with all the necessary safety and quality standards in place.”
ExecuJet will also be the official helicopter operator for the 12th edition of the Absa Cape Epic, which will take place from 15-22 March 2015.
The annual mountain bike stage race held in the Western Cape, South Africa, attracts elite professional mountain bikers from around the world.
ExecuJet will be following the race at every stage, operating in line with the company’s internationally recognised safety standards. The Bell 407 and a Robinson R44 will be used for media flying, hospitality flying as well as operating shuttles to and from Cape Town International Airport for the duration of the event.
ExecuJet consistently demonstrates the highest level of commitment to aviation safety and quality at all of the company’s facilities worldwide.
ExecuJet’s Africa facilities have maintained International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO) certification and the ARGUS Platinum Rating for a number of years and more recently have been accredited by Wyvern.

Qatar Airways supports Africa's football academy Aspire

Qatar Airways has announced its partnership with Aspire Academy to support this year's edition of the Aspire Football Dreams project by forming “Qatar Airways & Aspire Academy – Football Dreams Africa."

Aspire Football Dreams is a fascinating and unique project aimed at empowering the development of youth by identifying and training young football talent. As part of the Football Dreams project this year, Aspire Academy has begun scouting for football talent in Africa. Once selected, finalists will be offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to train in Barcelona and play a friendly game against one of the world’s most popular football clubs FC Barcelona’s youth team. As FC Barcelona’s global main sponsor, Qatar Airways has been associated with a series of initiatives involving the world-renowned football team in order to spread the love of football to all corners of the world. Football Dreams Africa is the latest initiative that will offer talented young footballers in Africa dedicated training and a memorable experience of playing with one of the world’s best football teams. Qatar Airways Group chief executive, Akbar Al Baker said: “Qatar Airways has a proud tradition of supporting meaningful socially relevant initiatives and we believe that the Qatar Airways & Aspire Academy – Football Dreams Africa project is an excellent opportunity to make the dreams of young footballers in Africa come true.  We aim to use this project as a platform to nurture budding football talent and highlight the effectiveness of sports as a key development tool.” “Giving young people in Africa the chance to fulfil their potential while being able to make a big step towards becoming a professional football player has been very important for Aspire Academy in the past and we are happy and proud to have partnered with Qatar Airways on this project," said Ivan Bravo, Director General of Aspire Academy, on the new partnership. Javier Faus, First VP and the head of FC Barcelona finance and strategy department, said: “This is one more example of the projects resulting from our sponsorship agreement with Qatar Airways. Through this joint initiative with Aspire and Qatar Airways, Barça is offering the possibility for young footballers, in this case from the African continent, to be able to enjoy a unique experience and, at the same time, is reasserting its commitment to sport as a part of education.”

Angola signs deal with Emirates to develop "world class airline"

Angola's national carrier TAAG is to work with Dubai-based Emirates airline to develop a "world class" carrier to compete with major African and international carriers

The Dubai airline today signed a Management Concession Agreement* which will see Emirates take a role in the management of TAAG which has the Angolan government as a majority shareholder.

The agreement lays the foundation for both airlines to jointly leverage commercial opportunities in Africa and beyond.
The ten year deal was signed this morning by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman and CEO of Emirates and Augusto da Silva Tomás, Angola’s Minister of Transport.
This initiative is to further the Republic of Angola’s vision to create a world class Angolan carrier with the support of Emirates.
Analyst Saj Ahmad said: “TAAG Angolan Airlines has been one of the quiet success stories as an airline in Africa and Emirates deal with them boosts their presence in a market that is underserved.
“By taking on a managerial role, Emirates will assist TAAG's expansion plans while allowing them to harness Emirates' disciplined financial management to drive efficiency into the business while revamping their network and fleet.’”
‘This is a great move for both carriers and its likely that this deal will spur development of greater routes in and out of Africa, especially for Emirates.”
As part of the agreement*, Emirates will work closely with the Angolan government and TAAG Linhas Aéreas De Angola to formulate and implement a business plan, provide management support and devise fleet and route network strategies, whilst bringing synergy through the complementary networks. Emirates will not contribute equity under this agreement but appoint four senior managers to work for TAAG Linhas Aéreas De Angola.
Both airlines will also cooperate across a wide range of areas including bilateral code-sharing on cargo and passenger services, participation of customers in both airlines’ frequent flyer programmes and passenger and cargo handling. Emirates has also committed to allocate its resources to staff and crew training on best-in-class business and operational processes and systems.
TAAG Linhas Aéreas De Angola will additionally explore business opportunities with dnata, in particular its passenger and cargo handling, flight catering and travel services. dnata, part of the Emirates Group, is the largest provider of air travel services in the Middle East and employs about 23,000 staff in 38 countries.
Tomás, the Minister of Transport for Government of Angola said: "The signing of this agreement today marks a very decisive step towards the restructuring of TAAG. With Emirates, our new partner and a leader in the world of civil aviation, equipped with know-how, technology and experience, TAAG is starting a new era of growth and progress which will also positively impact the development of Angola."
Sheikh Ahmed said: We see huge potential in Africa, and are keen to continue playing an active role in contributing to its economies. Emirates will continue growing our presence in Africa by opening new routes, increasing flight frequencies, and upgrading aircraft to meet the increasing demand. Exploring mutually beneficial agreements with established carriers such as TAAG Linhas Aéreas De Angola is another key strategy. We believe this new partnership will build on the success that we have seen on our Dubai-Luanda service, and also deliver operational and business synergies for both airlines.”

Emirates operates over 160 flights across the continent each week, connecting African economies and markets with Dubai and beyond to a global network of over 140 major cities.
Emirates currently flies daily to Luanda, Angola’s capitol. EK 793 leaves Dubai at 1005hrs and arrives in Luanda at 1500hrs. The return flight, EK 794, departs Luanda at 1800hrs, touching down in Dubai eight hours later at 0510hrs.

Ebola: ASF began its mission in Guinea to fight the epidemic

On December 10th, ASF, the aviation humanitarian organization, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development, began its mission providing air support to the organizations present on the ground and to fight Ebola.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development has signed an agreement with ASF for a 9 months air support mission. Thanks to this mission. ASF provides, to the benefit of the organizations present on site, the air transport of medical staff, food supplies, medical equipment, drugs and infected patients between Conakry and several treatment centres.

 

ASF has mobilised for this mission a Cessna Caravan plane with a capacity of 9 passengers or 1 ton of cargo. Based in Conakry, the aircraft will connect the humanitarian intervention centres of N'Zerekore, Beyla, Macenta, Kérouané (in Forested Guinea), Forécariah, Manéah and Coyah (west of the country). ASF’s plane can also intervene in Bamako, Mali. Teams of two volunteer pilots will take turns for 4 to 6 weeks missions under direct logistical coordination of the Embassy of France in Conakry.

 

“ASF roadmap is simple: it is essential to be able to quickly and efficiently supply the treatment centres to prevent people from moving and increasing the epidemic, says Pierre Lacorne, President of ASF. These centres, often located days away from Conakry, can be easily reached by air. NGOs working on site are doing an admirable job but do not have the necessary resources to act fast. We provide them with these resources.”

 

ASF had already provided air support for operations against Ebola in late August 2014 in the Djera region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The great coordination efforts management and logistics, in this inaccessible region, led the UN coordinator on site to announce, on November 15th, that the epidemic had been eradicated