It is good news for African Continent that South Africa will be hosting the world cup 2010 starting from June 11 to July 2010. Most  tourists can take this advantage by planning there safari commencing from Kenya then to South Africa as Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is hub to all connecting flights in Africa, Middle East, United Emirtaes,Asia,United States of America and Europe. For those who are able to take private charters they can do so as there are aircrafts ranging from Turbo Prop, Jets, which can be chartered and also you have to keep in mind during this period it will be also high season immigration of wild animals into Masai Mara, Amboseli, Tsavo, Samburu, Shaba which one can take advantage of coming to Africa for the world cup 2010 and do a safari as well. We have National Carriers like Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airways, South Africa Airways, British Airways  who operates commercial flights on Nbo-Johannesberg  and  in addition there are private charters which you can hire  ranging from  90 Seater  to 124 seater using CRJ  Regional Jets,B737-100,DC-9 ,Ambraer which are available. But the inquiries for private charters are overwhelming and the need to make advance reservations to avoid last minute disappointments and even if there will be aircrafts for charter during this period it will be too expensive, so please make your bookings in good time.

You can book your flights  direct from anywhere globally  via Jomo Kenyatta International Aiport,Nairobi ,Kenya and connect local scheduled services or non-scheduled flights to the national parks & reserve and thereafter  connect  to South Africa to watch world cup 2010 , what an interesting  safari to and over African Continent?

Airline news.

(1) Mthatha Airport Ready for World Cup.

The R56-million upgrade of the Mthatha airport, in the Eastern Cape, would be completed by May, in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, according to Eastern Cape Transport, Safety and Liaison MEC Ghishma Barry. Local construction companies Tikanedywili Construction, Makole Business Enterprise, the Ludumo/Alamo Project joint venture and Intellect Construction have already started work on the upgrade. The upgrade to the airstrip to include lighting for night flights had been completed. The South AFRICA Civil Aviation Authority has inspected the lighting and the province is now waiting the issuing of a night rating for the airport. The project includes the building of a temporary relocation structure, aterminal building upgrade, civil works and fencing. It formed part of the provinces Blue Skyway aviation strategy, which aimed to improve the potential of the Bhisho and Mthatha airports, as well as to bring new life to rural airstrips within the province.

A R78-million upgrade at the Bhisho airport was completed in August last year. The province is also expecting the Mthatha Airport upgrade to contribute to tourism in the region, particularly during the world cup event. At present the airport is used by Airlink flights from Johannesburg and other small aircraft.

Before the upgrade, the airport had only been operating at 30% of its capacity and the Eastern Cape was eager to link the airport with other larger cities, including Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban, in future.

There is need to have an airline between Cape Town and Mthatha via Bhisho.An important goal is to link Port Elizabeth to Mthatha via Bhisho with the service geared for faster movement between these three areas.

With these new developments in South Africa air transport industry you are assured that they are as many airports and airstrip that will be available to accommodate flights into and from South Africa during both night and day.

(2) Boeings 747-8 Freighter Maiden Flights on February 8, 2010 Becomes Successful.

It was indeed a success when Boeing 747-8 Freighter successfully took to the sky for the first time before more than 5,000 employees, customers, suppliers and community leaders. It was a test program for the world’s most efficient freighter. This B747-8 was flown by Chief pilot Mark Feuerstein and Capt Tom Imrich in the flight deck, the newest member of the 747 family took off at 12h39 local time from Paine Field in Everett and landed at Paine Field at 16h18. According to the crew the airplane performed as expected and handled just like a 747-400.

This flight was the first of more than 1,600 flight hours in the test program for the newest member of the Boeing freighter family. The airplane followed a route over Western Washington, where it underwent tests for basic handling qualities and engine performance. The airplane reached a cruising altitude of 17,000 feet (5,181m) and a speed of up to 230knots, or about 264 miles (426km) per hour. Powered by four General Electric GEnx-2B engines, the 747-8 freighter will transition its testing program to Moses Lake, Wash, and Palmdale, Calif, where the other two test airplane will join it in the coming month. According to Mo Yahyavi the program general manager and vice president Boeing Commercial Airplanes this was truly a great day for the Boeing Company and the 747 program. This was achieved through hard work and dedication of the company staff, suppliers and customers. While there is still additional four main-deck pallets and three lower-hold pallets,” The 747 freighter continues the leadership of the 747 freighter families, which carries more than half of the worlds air freight, making it the standard of the air cargo industry” the program general manager and vice president Mo Yahyavi said.

Boeing launched the airplane on November 14, 2005, with firm orders for 18 747-8 Freighters: 10 from Cargolux of Luxembourg and eight from Nippon Cargo Airlines of Japan. All told, Boeing has secured 108 orders for the 747-8, of which 76 are orders for the new freighter. Cargolux,Nippon Cargo Airlines, AirBridge Cargo Airlines, Atlas Air, Cathay PACIFIC Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, Emirates Sky cargo, Guggenheim and Korean  Air all have ordered the 747-8 freighter.

These new aircraft will make the cargo flights cheaper and affordable as it can carry more than half what the other freighters have been carrying.

BUSINESS AVIATION EXHIBITION.

(a) Africa Aviation Exhibition.

These exhibitions was organized by Lynne Browne and Peter Moyanga of Duma Exhibition, managed to pull off their crucial first event with an ultimately small and seemingly quite inaugural African Aviation Exhibition (AAE) which was held at Halfway Houses Gallagher Estate exhibition complex and occupying a single hall, some 45 exhibitors invested in the show.

Whilst the event was originally touted as being predominantly general aviation oriented, as deadline approached the Duma team must have leveraged its long list of industry contacts to get stands signed up. Consequently, the event represented a wide mix of exhibitors ranging from used aircraft sales, companies to a mechanical cherry-picker supplier and everything in between. For exhibitors, these events represent a sizeable marketing budget commitment, not just in square meterage costs but staff and logistics. Its testament to Dumas long experience that a sprinkling of big names and aerospace suppliers supported the event. Whilst none of the bigger general aviation companies were present, including Comair, Execujet, NAC, and PLACO, used aircraft sales were represented by energetic Nico van staden of Aerostratus. Businessure aviation insurance brokers were in attendance along with Comet Aviation Supplies and aircraft sales and security specialists Professional Group. Steven Wrights International Flight Clearances shared a stand with colleagues, Elite Jet and Sennheiser headsets were represented. It was good to see Wonder booms Global Composite Solutions and its CEO, Errol Van Rensburg, who have been making a name for themselves with their STC’d external cargo panniers and integrated reconnaissance belly pods. A number of planned ‘dialogue’ sessions covering safety and security included talks given by Lt General (ret) Des Barker, Professional Aviations Bob Garbett, CAAs Rennie Van Zyl and ACSAs Bongani Maseko, amongst others, appeared poorly subscribed –probably because of limited pre-event publicity. The two largest exhibitors were South African Airways Technical and Netherlands-based Fokker Services. Other overseas companies were Romanian-based aircraft management specialists Jetran Air and Amman-based Jordan Airmotive.Kenyan Airways Cargo were marketing their Nairobi freight hub and RUAG Aerospace both the Donnier 228NG and twin engined Seastar amphibian. The attendance was approximately 500 attendees daily for 3 days.

However ,the first AAE was tremendous networking opportunity for both exhibitors and visitors and as always, first events, which are invariably slow, allow exhibitor staff more time with potential clients to get to know each other and build long lasting relationship.

(b) Alenia Aermacchi at Singapore Air Show 2010

A prototype of Alenia Aermacchis new advanced trainer aircraft the M-346 ‘Master’, in a mimetic livery, was on static display in addition to the daily flight displays at the Singapore Air Show held early February this year. The M-346 reached Singapore after a ferry flight of 6 803 nm from Venegono Superiore.

The M-346 Master –the newest generation Advanced /Lead-In fighter trainer specifically designed to bridge the technological gap with the new generation fighters –is in the short list of the Republic of Singapore Air Force in the Fighter Wings Course (FWC) .In this programme Alenia Aermacchi is teamed with ST Aerospace and Boeing.

The partnership is a combination of the major manufacturers in the industry: Aermacchi has a strong reputation of being a leading designer and builder of advanced jet trainers. Boeing is a world leader in the aviation industry, delivering world class ground based training systems while ST Aerospace is RAFis long term partner in its technological development and growth’s Aerospace offers comprehensive maintenance and engineering a capabilities for RSAFs needs.

The integrated training solution that the companies are offering the RSAF takes into account RSAFs 3G needs, in particular as it is it is based on years of first-hand knowledge from ST Aerospace’s support of RSAF.The M-346 is a technologically advanced jet trainer and is a newly developed aircraft that not only meets RSAFs requirements , but will provide sustained quality training for RSAF into the future as it fully meets the Advanced European Joint Pilot Training (AEJPT-EURO-Training) Preliminary requirements, countries involved in the ARJPT program include Italy, France, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Finland,Sweden,and Austria.

In November 2009 the Italian Air Force signed a contract for the supply of the first batch of six M-346, including also simulators and integrated logistic supports, to fulfill the advanced/lead-in fighter training requirements for pilots that will fly its future generation combat aircraft. This contract forms part of a broader agreement to supply a total of 15 M-136 and related support.

In February 2009, the M-346 was selected by the United Arab Emirates for their new training air fleet and negotiations are at last stage for the acquisition of a complete Integrated Training Solution Comprehensive of 48 M-346.

The world of aviation is developing very fast considering the new technological advancement, and new aircrafts are being introduced in the market which are low consumption, long range and with extra capacity which will make it cheaper for cost par person or per kilo for cargo.