Westair Bénin planning to launch CRJ-200 operations shortly

Benin to partner Rwanda in new national carrier

The governments of Benin and Rwanda have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which will lead to the establishment of a joint-venture airline based out the West African state's capital, Cotonou Cadjehoun.

In a statement, RwandAir (WB, Kigali) said the yet-to-be-named airline would operate passenger and cargo flights to Abuja, Brazzaville, Douala, Libreville, Bamako, Dakar Yoff-Léopold Sédar Senghor International, and Conakry. No further details concerning timelines or fleeting plans were disclosed.

As part of the deal, the Beninoise government has granted RwandAir 7th freedom traffic rights to establish a base in Cotonou using two B737s. Operations are expected to commence at some point in the future.

At present, Benin does not have any active large scale commercial carriers following the demise of Westair Bénin (Cotonou Cadjehoun) in 2015. As such, its push to establish its own airline by partnering an established continental carrier mirrors that of Togo which has partnered Ethiopian Airlines (ET, Addis Ababa International) in setting up the successful regional...

Westair Bénin to resume pax ops early next year

Serbia's Aviogenex faces closure if investor not found

Aviogenex (Belgrade) faces closure should it fail to secure a viable strategic partner. According to EX-YU Aviation News, Aviogenex is one of 188 bankrupt state-run companies that Belgrade intends to shut down as part of the terms of a EUR1billion (USD1.16billion) loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Thus far, the moribund charter airline has attracted interest from local firm, JetVision Balkan, Russia's Arctica Airlines, a firm believed to be linked to Mikhail Kremeshkov, Dmitry Vinokurov and Vyacheslav Zotov, Swiss investment firm, Euroswiss Investment Holding AG (though Helvax AG has also been mentioned), and the UAE-based Overseas Group.

Serb Economy Minister, Željko Sertić, has expressed doubts that even with a suitable partner, the carrier could return to profitability.

“Most of these companies are inactive ... they are making losses but they do not exist in real life. They are just empty shells," he said.

The deadline for the sales is the end of December 2015.

Aviogenex's fleet has dwindled to just one aircraft - a B737-200Adv. - which has been...

Emirati investor eyes Serbian charter specialist, Aviogenex

Aviogenex (Belgrade) has reportedly caught the eye of an unnamed Dubai-based firm just one month after the Serbian government put the airline up for sale. According to EX-YU Aviation News, a potential investment into the moribund charter specialist would be welcomed as staff have complained they have not been paid in over a year, labelling the carrier as "neither here nor there."

Having once operated a respectable fleet, Aviogenex's fleet has now fallen on hard times with its sole aircraft - a B737-200Adv. - having been parked in Belgrade since the beginning of this year when its last contract - a wet-lease for Westair Bénin (Cotonou Cadjehoun) - ended.

Prior to Jat Airways' tie-up with Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International) resulting in Air Serbia (JU, Belgrade), the Serbian government had intended to re-equip Aviogenex with Jat's older B737-300s with the plan of repositioning the airline as a low-cost carrier.