Gabonese gov't pushes ahead with new national carrier plans ch-aviation PRO exclusive

National Airways (Ethiopia) (NAE, Addis Ababa) has announced plans to start scheduled passenger services to Mogadishu, Somalia by the end of this month. The carrier's manager, Hussein Hosh, told Radio Dalsan this week that the Ethiopian carrier would offer three weekly flights between Addis Ababa and Mogadishu, the first such services since 1977.

“The decision followed [a] request by Somali businessmen on the Ethiopian government,” he said in an interview.

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has sought to resolve all outstanding issues with neighbours Eritrea and Somalia in a move seen as stabilizing the Horn of Africa as well as removing external security threats within Ethiopia.

Somalia, then under the Siad Barre regime, attempted to annex the Ogaden region of Ethiopia during a brief war that lasted from July 1977 to March 1978. However, despite early gains, Somali forces were driven back by Ethiopia, then under the rule of Mengistu Haile Mariam, with the aid of Cuban military assistance. Flights between Addis Ababa and Mogadishu have been non-existent since then. In June of...

Air Belgium (KF, Brussels Charleroi) chief executive Niky Terzakis has outlined the carrier's planned Chinese network operations, tentatively due to launch during the final quarter of the year.

In an interview with Le Soir, Terzakis said that in addition to its current 3x weekly Brussels Charleroi-Hong Kong Int'l flights, Air Belgium would target Zhengzhou from late September followed by Wuhan in October, and finally Taiyuan in November.

Also in October, Air Belgium hopes to begin interline operations with Asian partner carriers. According to Terzakis, Air Belgium passengers will be able to book flights to between four and six destinations in Asia using Hong Kong as a transit point.

"From Charleroi, we'll be able to reach cities like Tokyo (Japan) and Cebu (Philippines)," he said.

Commenting on the Hong Kong route's performance thus far, the CEO said that although load factors ranged between 50 and 60% on its launch in June/July, they have since gone up with figures for August showing between 75 and 85% on "some days"....

Gabon Airlines (GY, Libreville) is officially in liquidation after a Libreville court issued a directive to dispose of the defunct carrier's assets, the Gabonese Review has reported. As the official successor to Air Gabon (GN, Libreville) and its still-borne Royal Air Maroc-aligned successor, Air Gabon International (Libreville), Gabon Airlines was founded in 2007 by private investors, banks and insurers with its CEO Christian Bongo Ondimba, a son of former Gabonese strongman Omar Bongo. Initial operations between Libreville and Paris CDG took place on 11 April 2007 using a B767-200(ER) and an A340-300, CS-TQM (c/n 117) on lease from Hi Fly (5K, Lisbon). However, difficulties were soon encountered with the airline posting significant losses over the following four years. Flights ceased in 2011 while in 2012, the carrier lost its Air Operators Certificate. Among the assets that have since been disposed of include the 767-200(ER), TR-LHP (msn 21877), which had been grounded in Addis Ababa since 2007 over an unpaid debt to Ethiopian Airlines (ET,...