East Africa

Air France-KLM said that its French division had suspended flights from Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport to Madagascar's capital Antananarivo between October 11 and October 13 inclusive, "due the security situation on the ground", the airline stated in an email statement sent on Sunday. Air France stated that the company was monitoring the situation with the authorities in real-time, and "the return of operations would be subject to daily assessments of the situation." Air France said that affected customers would be notified, and offered refund or rebooking options. The Madagascar presidency announced on Sunday, without giving any details, that there was...

Kenya Airways reported a loss before tax in the first six months of the year, compared to a profit for the same period last year, due to a decline in revenue and passengers, with some planes being out of service for maintenance. Kenya Airways, one of Africa's top three airlines, posted a loss in the first six months of the year of 12,17 billion shillings (94.34 millions dollars), compared to a profit of 634 million in the same time period last year. Pretax profit was the airline's first in more than a decade. The operating loss for the first half...

Ethiopian Airlines revenue rose by 8% during the financial year 2024/25, thanks to an increase in passengers and new routes, although there were challenges on certain routes due conflicts, said Chief Executive Mesfin Tassew Bekele on Tuesday. Mesfin, a spokesperson for the state-owned carrier and Africa's largest airline, said that passenger numbers increased by 11%, to 19 millions, in the year ended July 7. Revenue increased 8% compared to a year ago, reaching $7.6 billion. However, growth has slowed down from the 15% in 2023/24. Mesfin cited conflicts in Sudan and the Middle East, as well as the Democratic Republic...

Ibrahima Tall, the chief executive of Namib Minerals, said on Tuesday that it plans to invest $300 million in order to restart two of its gold mines which were mothballed in Zimbabwe. Namib Minerals is the owner of three gold mines, including How Mine, currently in operation. Tall said that the funds will be used to restart production at the Mazowe and Redwing mining operations, which were halted due to economic conditions in 2018 and 2019. Namib Minerals debuted in the Nasdaq market on June 1. It was formed by merging assets owned by Metallon Corporation with Red Rock Acquisition...

Boeing has reached a settlement agreement with a Canadian whose family was killed in the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX on March 2019, the lawyer for the man said. Terms of the settlement reached with Paul Njoroge, a Toronto resident, were not disclosed. The crash killed the 41-year-old's wife Carolyne, and his three children, Ryan, Kellie, and Rubi, as well as Carolyne. The crash also killed his mother-in law, who was travelling with them. The trial, scheduled to begin on Monday at the U.S. District Court of Chicago, would have been the U.S. aircraft manufacturer's first in...

On Monday, a group of countries, including France, Kenya and Spain, pledged to tax private jets and premium-class flights in order to raise money for climate action. Despite the fact that many wealthy nations are reducing their official development assistance to developing countries and extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, others have looked for new funding sources, such as taxing polluting industry. The announcement made on the first day of the U.N. Development Summit in Seville, Spain was the first from the "Sevilla Platform for Action", which aims to implement the new global financing framework that had been agreed...

On Monday, a group of countries, including France, Kenya and Spain, pledged to tax private jets and premium-class flights in an effort to raise money for climate action. Many richer countries are reducing their official development assistance to developing nations, even though extreme weather events are increasing in frequency. Some of these nations have looked for new sources of funding, such as taxing polluting industry. The "Sevilla Platform for Action", which aims to implement the global financing framework that was agreed upon before the event, made the announcement on the first day of the U.N. Development Summit in Seville, Spain....

Officials said that a U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation found that Boeing's ineffective actions and the Federal Aviation Administration's ineffective oversight led to a midair cabin panel explosion of a new 737 MAX 9 in January 2024, which spun the planemaker in a major crisis. The board criticised Boeing's safety culture, and its failure to properly install four bolts on a new Alaska Airlines MAX 9 plane. The NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy stated at a Tuesday meeting to determine the probable causes that the accident was completely avoidable. She said that Boeing should have addressed the unauthorized production...

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is holding an hearing on Tuesday, to determine the likely cause of a cabin panel that blew out mid-flight of a Boeing 737 MAX 9 in January 2024. This caused a major crisis for the planemaker. Officials said that the board would be expected to criticize Boeing for its safety culture, and also for failing to install four bolts on a new Alaska Airlines MAX 9 aircraft. Jennifer Homendy, Chair of the NTSB, said that the incident could have been avoided because the aircraft manufacturer should have addressed the unauthorized production long ago. This...

Authorities said that many people died when an Air India flight bound for London, with 242 passengers on board, crashed just minutes after it took off from Ahmedabad, a western city. This was the worst aviation accident in a decade. Here are some details about other deadly crashes that have occurred in recent years. UNITED STATES On January 29, more than 60 people died when an American Airlines regional jet collided into a U.S. Army Black Hawk chopper and crashed in the icy Potomac River, near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. SOUTH KOREA On December 29, 2024, the Jeju Air...

Authorities said that the death toll is expected to rise as an Air India flight bound for London, carrying 242 passengers, crashed shortly after it took off from Ahmedabad, a city in western India. Here are some fatal accidents that occurred in the last few years. UNITED STATES On January 29, more than 60 people died when an American Airlines regional jet collided into a U.S. Army Black Hawk chopper and crashed in the icy Potomac River, near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. SOUTH KOREA On December 29, 2024, the Jeju Air flight 7C2216 crash-landed at Muan Airport killing all...

Ethiopian Airlines' chief executive said on Monday that the airline is planning to purchase at least 20 small regional jets or narrowbody aircraft to replace older aircraft and expand its domestic fleet. In an interview, CEO Mesfin Tassew Bekele stated that "we are evaluating three aircraft types, the E-2 by Embraer, A220 by Airbus and the 737 MAX 7 by Boeing." He added that the final order amount will depend on which type is chosen. Boeing's 737 MAX 7 has yet to be approved. It is a plane with a higher seating capacity, but it falls at the bottom of...

A senior official revealed on Wednesday that Uganda was in discussions with credit export agencies and development finance institutions to have 85% a planned rail project funded with debt. This is due to concerns about the already high public debt. In October of last year, Turkey's Yapi Merkezi was awarded the contract for the construction of the 2.7 billion euro ($3.15 billion) rail. Preliminary works have already begun. Perez Wamburu said that some of the potential financiers are the OPEC Fund for International Development (FIDA), the Africa Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, and some European export credit companies. Wamburu...

A U.S. Diplomat said that despite the aggressive spending cuts of President Donald Trump, the United States is committed to funding the Lobito Rail Corridor, which will help transport vital minerals from central Africa's copperbelt into the West. The U.S., through the International Development Finance Corporation (IDFC), set up in Trump's first year in office, has pledged $550 million in loan support for Lobito. Lobito is seen as a key component in countering Chinese control of copper and cobalt in the region. Trump's cuts in spending had caused concern for projects like Lobito, which plans to go to Angola and...

Uganda's government and Turkish building and construction company Yapi Merkezi signed a contract to build a 272 kilometre (169 miles) section of railway, in a bid to improve regional trade, a Ugandan authorities stated on Monday. Uganda's Requirement Gauge Railway project planner, Perez Wamburu, stated the arrangement was for the first area of a. prepared 1,700 km electrical railway. The job will increase trade and minimize transport expenses,. Uganda's works ministry permanent secretary, Bageya Waiswa, stated. at the signing event. He stated Uganda will use its own funds and credit from export. credit organisations to fund the task, which will...