Uganda aviation news – Aeroclub turns 15, lines up big celebration with aerial display show

KAMPALA AERO CLUB TURNS 15

The Kampala Aero Club and Flight Training Centre, based at the Kajjansi Airfield and Ugandas leading domestic charter airline, is turning 15 years, after 1 ½ decades of accident free operations across East Africa. Founded by Captains Jeremy McKelvie and Russell Barnes in 1997, KAFTC has grown in leaps and bounds and moved from the initial ka container single room office to their current operational centre and maintenance base, which has been purpose built and is living proof how aviation in Uganda has evolved over the past 15 years.

The company has also been at the forefront in participating in changes to air service regulations and is engaged in regular dialogue with the CAA, representing the aviation sector and developing a rapport with the regulatory staff. Corporate social responsibility too ranks high with support for the nearby Sure Prospects Nursery and Primary School from where children even had the opportunity to take to the skies, an experience they will surely never forget.

Today KAFTC operates a fleet of single engined, twin engined and rotary aircraft, since the acquisition of a helicopter last year and maintains them all in their own hangar at the Kajjansi field, of course duly licensed by the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority, as a flight training center, as a charter airline and as maintenance and repair organization. On the books of KAFTC, as this article goes to press, are 3 Cessna 172, 2 Cessna 206, 2 Cessna 208 aka Caravan, 1 Cessna 210, 1 BN2 Islander, 1 DHC-6 Twin Otter, 1 Great Lakes and 1 Bell 206 Helicopter. Add to that Capt. Howard Davenports personal Jungmeister and it makes for an impressive display of birds when visiting their base at the Kajjansi field.

Notable, and worth mentioning separate, is THE classic bi plane of Great Lakes make, meticulously maintained and able to fly acrobatics over Kajjansi or elsewhere or just to a sightseeing flight in the way the first pilots experienced the skies, wind in the face in an open cockpit, wearing the helmet and goggles just like it was a hundred years ago, when those daring sky devils took their planes up.

(The Great Lakes above Lake Victoria with yours truly in the front seat / Picture courtesy of Capt. Russell Barnes)

With this new bird the Aeroclub is now able to offer thrilling rides with loops, 8s, rolls, inverted flight and more, and their latest addition to the aircraft is a battery of video cameras capturing the moment when at the top of the loop gravity for a moment turns to zero before the G-forces then set in again when descending.

The Aeroclub is of course also a regular meeting place for aviation buffs, members and spectators who have access to a swimming pool from where aircraft taking off and landing can be seen with ease, and a fully equipped little restaurant serving snacks and drinks throughout the day. In particular over the weekends are members often seen with their families, bringing their adult love for flying closer to their own children, creating the next generation of aviators in Uganda.

(Part of the leisure facilities for Aeroclub members with the new offices behind)

In early February will the Aeroclub hold a celebration of their 15 years in the skies, with some daring aerial displays including Capt. Howards signature move, a ribbon cut, the first solo flight of an aspiring pilot, a formation fly past, a flour bombing contest aimed to raise funds for the Sure Hope School and various other airborne surprises including a full acrobatic display by Capt. Howard. Congratulations to all the fly boys and fly girls at KAFTC and all their staff on the occasion of turning 15 adolescent in human age but well matured as aviation in Uganda goes.
Visit www.flyuganda.com for more information.

Mauritius aviation news – Airport company awaits acquisition consent from land owners

AIRPORT AUTHORITY SEEKS TO ACQUIRE LAND FOR EXPANSION
The Airports of Mauritius company is reportedly engaged in negotiations with nearby residents to acquire their land, needed to optimize security and operational safety. From information received from the island over 20 families have received offers of compensation to give up their land and resettle somewhere else, as the expansion and modernization of the countrys main airport, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolan International, goes ahead. Offers based on market value of the properties were formally made by the end of last year and feedback is expected to be in by mid January. Ongoing construction work has apparently prompted complaints from nearby residents, making it more urgent that resettlement and voluntary acquisition of land parcels needed is concluded with all haste.
SRIA was in a survey last year declared as Africas best airport but is clearly aiming to retain that accolade and improve facilities further to welcome a million and more visitors expected to visit Mauritius in 2012. Final arrival details and statistics from Mauritius are expected in due course for 2011 and will be published here as and when received.

La Reunion aviation news – Air Austral to drop Sydney and Bangkok, adds flights via Seychelles

AIR AUSTRAL SCHEDULE AND DESTINATION CHANGES

A source from Mauritius has passed information overnight that Air Austral, the home airline of the French Indian Ocean territory, is set to make some significant changes to their schedules and destinations, following the return of a B777-200 to the lessor recently. The airline will end flights to both Sydney / Australia and Bangkok / Thailand from the upcoming summer schedule but add flights between Paris and the Seychelles, enroute to La Reunion with full traffic rights between the islands. Special offers for the Paris to Seychelles route are already being advertised at the fare of Euro 698 and according to information at hand, confirmed by a source from the Seychelles, this operation will commence on 27th March every Tuesday and Friday.
Air Austral also appears set to increase their present twice a week flights from La Reunion to Lyon / France to three at the same time.
Talks between the Vanilla Island airlines have intensified following the radical downsizing of Air Seychelles and all three carriers, Air Austral, Air Mauritius and Air Seychelles are in talks to identify areas of cooperation which could lead to cost savings.
Watch this space for news from the aviation sector from the Indian Ocean islands and Eastern Africa.

Seychelles news update – DMC’s sign Memorandum of Understanding with China

SEYCHELLES DMCS SIGN MOU WITH CHINA

(Picture courtesy of STB)

It was reported overnight that the 6 leading destination management companies in the Seychelles, Masons Travel, Creole Travel Services, 7 Degrees South, Elite Travel Club, Select Seychelles and Vision Voyages have yesterday signed a comprehensive Memorandum of Understanding with China in a meeting organized by the Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association, supported by the Seychelles Tourism Board.
Present was the Chinese Ambassador to the Seychelles as well as the Chairman of STB, Barry Faure, who witnessed the representatives of the six companies to put pen to paper. Alain St. Ange, CEO of the Seychelles Tourism Board said on the occasion of the signing: This signing of an MOU between all the DMCs comes at the right time. The Government of Seychelles has decided to open direct air access between Seychelles and China. To make this initiative we all need to work together and todays show of unity among all the local tour operators is therefore welcomed. Another source from Victoria also hailed the agreement as breaking new ground, pointing to the near doubling of arrival numbers by Chinese citizens to the Seychelles in 2011 and then adding: when the new airlinks kick in we should see this number rise even further. China is soon going to overtake Europe and America as the main source market for tourists going abroad and we here in the Seychelles are ready to see that market grow. Our tourist office presence in China is working well and in particular the Gulf airlines offer a one stop flight connection for Chinese citizens from a number of key cities. This agreement is very good news for us.
Seychelles, truly Another World.

Seychelles news – 2012 arrivals up by 11 percent to 194.753 visitors

SEYCHELLES NEW ARRIVAL RECORD FIGURES 11 PERCENT UP
Data availed overnight show an impressive 11 percent arrival growth for the Seychelles in 2012, making it the second record breaking year in a row after 2010. 194.753 visitors had arrived across the year, more than twice the number of people actually living on the archipelagos islands. France, the UK, Germany and Italy were the top producer markets but emerging markets showed encouraging trends and proved the strategy of market diversification of the Seychelles Tourism Board right. Chinas visitor numbers almost doubled with a 97 percent growth while the Middle Eastern market grew by 44 percent in 2012 as a result of the increase in flight frequencies from Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi. Africas market share reached a respectable 12 percent, underscoring the fact that the no Visa policy of the Seychelles actually works in favour of African visitors, who need little else but a return airticket, a confirmed hotel booking and a yellow fever inoculation certificate to be welcomes to the Creole island paradise for a holiday of a lifetime.
The Seychelles Tourism Board had forecast a 7 percent rise in visitor numbers, exceeding their own predictions by a further 4 percent, benefitting from the huge publicity generated by the Royal Honeymoon, their first ever Carnaval Festival and a simply never relenting marketing blitz around the world which did not stop nor lose momentum throughout the year.

For 2012 the outlook is cautiously optimistic, and though nagging doubts remain over the impact of national airline Air Seychelles withdrawing with little notice from all their European routes, a code share arrangement with Abu Dhabis Etihad may in weeks to come still capture that lost capacity and provide seats to wannabe travelers under an Air Seychelles flight number, though operated of course by Etihad. The arrival of Transaero, a Russian airline now flying 3 times a month to Mahe, and of Air Austral by the end of March, which will once again offer a nonstop link from Paris, three times a week, are however thought to help the Seychelles to meet their 2012 targets as will the planned commencement of flights by Ethiopian Airlines and Blue Panorama from Italy.

Alain St. Ange, the CEO of the tourism board, had this to say: The SHTA, the Hospitality & Tourism Association stood behind the Team at the Tourism Board in its efforts, and this has made it possible for Seychelles to achieve this record in visitor arrival numbers. The Government of the country has also supported the efforts of its Tourism Board and on more occasion than one, the President of the Republic himself led working visits in potential markets to help facilitate the work of the countrys tourism industry. He also paid tribute to the global media which have given the Seychelles significantly increased exposure over the past 12 months, spurred undoubtedly also by the Royal Honeymoon but were also notably fair in reporting two freak shark attacks in an accurate fashion.

Watch this space for regular news updates from the Seychelles and the other Vanilla Islands in the Indian Ocean.