GAMBIA: TAP Air Portugal Starts Three Flights A Week To Banjul

TAP Air Portugal has launched flights to Banjul, capital of the Gambia.

A regular operation is now offering three flights a week, departing from Lisbon.

Flights between Lisbon and Banjul are being operated by Airbus A320.

The service departs on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 20:55 and arrives in Banjul at 00:10 the next day.

The return leg departs at 01:05 on Wednesday, Fridays and Sundays, to land at Humberto Delgado Airport at 06:05.

The beach, nature and adventure are Banjul’s hallmarks that give the African city life: the colourful and lively markets contrast with the white sand of the beaches and the lush green nature that characterizes Banjul.

On a cruise across the Gambia River, you can see hippos, monkeys and more than 500 bird species.

With this new route, TAP has once again expanded its operation to Africa, adding one more country and one capital to its network of destinations on the African continent.

In 2018, TAP carried more than 1.1 million passengers on African routes, a growth of 11.3 per cent over the previous year.

TAP Air Portugal is the flag carrier airline of Portugal, headquartered at Lisbon Airport which also serves as its hub.

TAP – Transportes Aéreos Portugueses – has been a member of the Star Alliance since 2005 and operates on average 2,500 flights a week to 87 destinations in 34 countries worldwide.

TAP – Transportes Aéreos Portugueses – has been a member of the Star Alliance since 2005 and operates on average 2,500 flights a week to 87 destinations in 34 countries worldwide.

The company has a fleet of 88 airplanes, and all of which were manufactured by Airbus and the remaining 22 by Embraer and ATR, operating on behalf of the regional airline TAP Express.

In June 2015 the company was semi-privatised and became majority-owned by the Atlantic Gateway Consortium, led by David Neeleman, who founded JetBlue and Azul Brazilian Airlines and co-founded WestJet, together with Portuguese entrepreneur Humberto Pedrosa.

The Atlantic Gateway Consortium purchased 61% of the carrier from the government of Portugal on 24 June 2015, with an option to buy the Portuguese government's remaining 34 percent stake in 2018.

This deal has been surrounded in controversy because it was completed at the end of the center-right government's mandate with wide opposition from TAP employees.

On October 2015, a new left-wing government has sought to return majority control of the airline to the state, having signed in February 2016 a deal with the private consortium.

This indicates that the company is 50% owned by the Portuguese state, 45% by the Atlantic Gateway Consortium and 5% available shareholder to collaborators and employees of TAP Air Portugal.

According to the JACDEC Airliner Safety Report released in January 2011, TAP Air Portugal was rated Western Europe's safest airline and tied for fourth worldwide with three other airlines - Qantas, Air New Zealand, and Finnair.

The JADEC report rates TAP Air Portugal well above any of its competitors in its prime geographic operating areas: Europe, Atlantic Islands, Africa, North America and South America.

TAP Air Portugal Flight 425: the crash of Flight 425 at Madeira Airport on 19 November 1977 remains TAP Air Portugal's only fatal accident.

Flight 425 was flying to Madeira Airport from Brussels via Lisbon. The Boeing 727 crashed while landing on runway 24 in heavy rain. Before the crash, the pilot had made two unsuccessful attempts to land and had decided to make one more attempt.

The plane touched down too late and overran the runway which was, at the time, only 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) long. The plane crashed onto a beach at the end of the runway, splitting into two pieces and bursting into flames.

Of the 164 people aboard, 131 were killed and 33 survived. It is the second-deadliest aeroplane accident in Portugal after Independent Air Flight 1851.

The crash prompted officials to explore ways of extending the short runway on Madeira. Because of the height of the runway relative to the beach below, an extension was very difficult and too expensive to perform.

A 200 m (656 ft) extension was built between 1983 and 1986. In 2000 the runway was extended to 2,781 m (9,124 ft) length and became capable of handling wide-body commercial jets such as the Boeing 747 or Airbus A340.

MOROCCO: Air Arabia Maroc Starts Flights To Agadir

Air Arabia Maroc has announced it will launch flights from Manchester to Agadir this winter.

The Moroccan low cost airline will start twice weekly flights from October to the resort.

It makes Manchester the only airport in the UK outside of London served by the carrier.

Adel Al Ali, group chief executive, Air Arabia, said: “We look forward to connecting Manchester with Agadir and we are confident that this step will further cater to the needs of our growing customer base.

“Agadir offers a great tourism experience year around with its unique beaches, mountains, golf resorts and excellent dining options.”

The new service will operate on Thursdays and Sunday on an Airbus A320.

Stephen Turner, commercial director for Manchester Airport, said: “It’s great news that Air Arabia Maroc will start flights to Agadir from Manchester this winter.

“Agadir is a great beach resort that also offers fantastic access to the Atlas Mountains.

“This route will provide the 22 million people in our catchment area with further choice on how to reach this exciting destination.”

Royal Air Maroc has announced the launch of a new route between Manchester and Casablanca.

From Tuesday March 28th, the Moroccan flag-carrier will begin operating direct non-stop flights three times per week from Manchester Airport to Mohammed V International Airport.

The service will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

This exciting launch sees Manchester Airport become only the third UK airport to operate flights to Casablanca with Royal Air Maroc, with the airline also currently running services from London Gatwick and London Heathrow.

The new service will use Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with both business and economy class seating available.

The scheduled flight time is approximately three hours and twenty minutes.

As well as offering direct flights from Manchester to Casablanca, Royal Air Maroc’s new service opens the door for connections to 33 African destinations.

Key connections through Casablanca, the second-largest hub to Africa, include Lagos, Accra, Nairobi and Banjul.

There is also an opportunity for flight connections to Brazil, as well as daily connecting flights to popular tourist destinations such as Marrakech and Agadir.

Royal Air Maroc serves over 90 destinations in four continents, bringing Africa closer to the rest of the world.

The airline’s UK & Ireland general manager, Achraf El Hassani, said: “Royal Air Maroc is delighted to launch the only non-stop service from the North of England direct to Casablanca, with thrice-weekly flights between Manchester Airport and Mohammed V International Airport.

“We are thrilled to be providing yet another invaluable link from the UK to Africa and look forward to welcoming passengers on board our service from March 28th.”

Manchester Airport is the UK’s third largest with more than 25.6m annual passengers.

It has more than 210 routes served by 70 plus airlines.

On the announcement of the Royal Air Maroc service, Stephen Turner, commercial director at Manchester Airport, said: “We are pleased to see Royal Air Maroc launch services from Manchester Airport.”

Tourism Is Gold For Africa

Tourism Indaba 2017 has been deemed a tremendous success. The event which held in the Kwazulu Natal province of South Africa from the 16th to the 18th of May saw a growth in visitors by a whopping 20%.

This year’s African Travel Indaba attracted about 7000 delegates, including 1449 local and international buyers, as well as more than 1000 exhibiting businesses from 18 African countries showcasing a diverse array of travel and tourism offerings.

A total of 692 registered media representatives attended the show, an 8% increase over 2016.

Sisa Ntshona, CEO of South African Tourism mentioned while speaking at the launch, “All signs point to Africa being the new tourism frontier”.

He further went on to speak about the global increase in international arrivals of 3.9% which exceeded the global increase in international arrivals overall.

So Africa is definitely the happening place to be, with vast untapped tourism potential that could buoy the greater African economy and contribute its prosperity, he said.

West Africa is firmly carried along, as SAT West Africa further strengths partnership and collaboration by hosting 28 Nigerian Tourism delegates that at this year’s Indaba.

The West African team were also treated to an especially engaging media session with SAT’s CEO Ntshona and Minister of Tourism, Tokozile Xasa where the discussion revolved around promoting tourism in Africa as a whole.

In addition to the partnership, for the first time ever in Nigeria’s history, the Director General of National Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) in his office as DG visited the indaba. He was joined by three trade associations, NANTA, TOUGHA and NATOP.

Meanwhile,the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) says it will commit about 500 million dollars to revive agriculture and construction of world-class tourism and trade logistics infrastructure in The Gambia

The President of the bank, Benedict Oramah said this in a statement issued in Lagos on Thursday.

Oramah, who met with President Adama Barrow in Banjul, said part of the fund would also be used to improve the country’s energy sector.

He said the construction of Tourism Relay Facilities would include luxury hotels and resorts which would generate higher revenues and foreign exchange inflows for the country.

According to Oramah, the bank will launch a Contingency Food Emergency Trade Financing Facility to assist countries exposed to droughts or floods, such as The Gambia.

He said the aim was to help such countries improve their financial preparedness through food imports.

Oramah said that the bank could also intervene in the provision of bridging finance for upgrade and expansion of the country’s major ports and related logistics infrastructure.

The statement quoted President Barrow as saying that the bank’s financing offer was in line with Gambia’s three-year programme for accelerated growth.

Barrow said the country was in urgent need for interventions to improve the means of livelihood of Gambians.

According to him, the four key areas to consider include macroeconomic management frameworks, strengthening the public sector, promoting sustainable inclusive growth, and investing in human capital.

Afreximbank is the foremost Pan-African multilateral financial institution devoted to financing and promoting intra- and extra-African trade.

The bank was established in October 1993 by African governments, African private and institutional investors, and non-African investors.

Since 1994, it has approved more than 51 billion dollars in credit facilities for African businesses, including about 10.3 billion dollars in 2016.

The bank has its headquarters in Cairo.

GAMBIA: Bye Bye Yahya Jammeh , Welcome Adama Barrow

Supporters of president-elect Adama Barrow dance on a poster of incumbent President Yahya Jammeh during celebrations of Barrow's election victory in Banjul, Gambia, December 2, 2016.
Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh, who once vowed to rule the tiny West African nation for "a billion years", said he had accepted his shock election defeat on Friday, 22 years after seizing power in a coup.

Voting on Thursday against Jammeh was a rare show of defiance against a leader who has ruled by decree and who rights groups say crushes dissent by imprisoning and torturing opponents.

In an address broadcast by Gambian state-owned radio on Thursday evening, Jammeh said he would not contest the poll results showing opposition candidate Adama Barrow had won, which had been announced earlier in the day.

"If (Barrow) wants to work with us also, I have no problem with that. I will help him work towards the transition," Jammeh said, before later saying that he planned to move to his farm after leaving office following a handover in January.

Celebrations erupted in the streets of Banjul, a normally sleepy seaside capital whose white beaches lined with palm trees are a draw for European tourists, when the results were announced.

Gambians shouted: "We are free. We won't be slaves of anyone." Some waved the Gambian flag and opposition party signs.

Official results from the electoral commission head gave Barrow, a real estate developer who once worked as a security guard at retailer Argos in London, 45.5 percent of the vote against Jammeh's 36.7 percent.

A peaceful handover of power in Gambia would be a welcome surprise for African democracy at a time when many of the continent's leaders have been rigging polls, fiddling with constitutions to extend their terms in office and cracking down on peaceful protest.

"African heads of state if they are defeated should take the example of Jammeh by leaving office honourably," said teacher Lamin Joof, celebrating in Banjul.

But his concession is unlikely to have a ripple effect across Africa since Gambia, a sliver of land along the banks of a river on its west coast with few natural resources and little trade or diplomatic presence, has always been an outlier.

Jammeh only this week said that his "presidency and power are in the hands of Allah and only Allah can take it from me".

"I never in my dreams believed he would concede. It almost feels to good to be true," said Ramzia Diab, an opposition member who fled to Senegal after getting death threats.

Jammeh's eccentricities have often made headlines. He once said he had invented a herbal cure for Aids that only works on Thursdays. Once every year he also invited a few hundred women to the grounds of State House, where he personally administered another herbal cure he had concocted for infertility.

He arrested hundreds on suspicion of being witches or wizards and threatened to decapitate gay people.

Jammeh's supporters deny abuses and he has often criticised Western powers for meddling in African affairs.

The vote was marked by a blackout of the internet and international calls. Land borders were sealed. European Union observers were barred, though some African Union observers came.

The tourist flights that bring Gambia's main source of foreign exchange continued uninterrupted.

"Our resort teams in Gambia tell us that the situation is normal and that customers continue to enjoy their holidays," a spokesman for Thomas Cook, which organises regular scheduled flights, said by email. He said the travel agent had 6,500 customers flying from Britain before end of the year.

Barrow somehow managed to unite and galvanise Gambia's opposition for the first time since Jammeh took power in the country of 1.8 million people.

He has promised to revive the economy, one of the region's poorest performers that pushes thousands of Gambians to flee to Europe in search of a better life.

Barrow has also pledged to end human rights abuses and to step down after three years as a boost to democracy.

It is unclear whether Jammeh, if he steps down, will insist on some kind of immunity for alleged abuses under his rule.

Gambia withdrew from the International Criminal Court last month, branding it the "Infamous Caucasian Court".

Karamba Touray, a spokesman for Barrow's UPD, said he would "stop plans to leave the ICC and ask to rejoin the Commonwealth immediately". He also said he would annul Jammeh's declaration of Gambia as an Islamic republic in December last year.

"He wants Gambia to remain a secular state and respect the rights of all the people," Touray said of a country that is predominantly Muslim but has a small Christian minority.

Small protests in Banjul in April led to dozens of arrests, including that of the leader of the main UDP opposition party, Ousainu Darboe. Two UDP members later died in custody.

"I want him to face justice, they have to make sure he faces the full wrath of the law," the opposition's Diab said. "People have died, many of us don't know where our family members are."

NIGERIA: Arik Air Introduces New Timings, More Baggage On Lagos-Johannesburg Route

Arik Air, Nigeria and West Africa’s largest carrier has introduced new summer timings on the Lagos- Johannesburg route. Additionally, the baggage allowance on the route has been increased for both Premier and Economy Class passengers.

With the new timings which came into effect on June 15, 2015, outbound daily flights now depart the MurtalaMuhammed International Airport, Lagos at 1:30 pm (local time) and arrive into the OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg at 8:40 pm (local time). Inbound flights leave Johannesburg at 11:15 pm (local time) and arrive into Lagos at 4:30 am the next day.

For the new baggage allowance, Premier and Economy class passengers from Lagos to Johannesburg can carry three pieces of luggage each with Premier passengers allowed a maximum weight of 32kg per piece and Economy passengers 23kg per piece.

The advantage of the new timings is that it offers better connections from Arik Air’s regional and domestic points to Johannesburg. Abuja and Port Harcourt passengers have multiple daily connection options via Lagos to and from Johannesburg.

Similarly, the new timings offer Dakar, Banjul and Luanda passengers same day connections in both directions while passengers travelling to Cotonou and Douala via Lagos have same day connection off inbound Johannesburg flight.

The domestic and regional South African markets are also benefiting from the new timings as they can now connect same day to the Johannesburg-Lagos service.

Arik Air Executive Vice President/Managing Director, Mr Chris Ndulue commented on the new timings and increased baggage allowance:

“Times are changing for passengers flying from West to South Africa. Their request for better connecting times has now been addressed. We are a customer oriented airline and we go the extra mile to ensure that our guests have value for money.”

QATAR: Qatar Completes Inter-line Agreement With Air Maroc

Qatar Airways and Royal Air Maroc have announced a bilateral codeshare agreement.

The inter-line agreement with Air Maroc will take effect from tomorrow, connecting the two carrier routes between Qatar and Morocco on Royal Air Maroc operation across West Africa.

Passenger can now book single itinerary connecting Qatar Airways and Royal Air Maroc with one-stop ticketing and baggage check-in.

Qatar Airways travellers travelling to Casablanca will now be able to connect onto the West African cities of Cotonou, Ouagadougou, Praia, Brazzaville, Pointe Noire, Abidjan, Libreville, Banjul, Conakry, Bissau, Monrovia, Bamako, Niamey, Lagos, Nouakchott, Freetown and Lomé.

Passengers will also be able to travel onwards to Marrakech within Morocco, Agadir, Tangier, Guelmime, Tan Tan, Tetouan, Al Hoceima, Fes, Errachidia, Oujda, Nador, Ouarzazate, Zagora, Laayounte, Dakhla and Beni Mellal.

Royal Air Maroc will launch its thrice-weekly B787 operation to Doha on September 9,

Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker said: “The launch of this codeshare agreement with Royal Air Maroc is great news for our business passengers who frequently travel on Qatar Airways, as they will be able to connect seamlessly onwards to almost 20 destinations across the West African region.”