BOTSWANA: Poachers Kill Close To 100 Elephants For Ivory

Gaborone, Botswana: Ninety elephant carcasses have been discovered in Botswana with their tusks hacked off, a charity said on Tuesday, in what is believed to be one of Africa's worst mass poaching sprees.

Most of the animals killed were large bulls carrying heavy tusks, Elephants Without Borders said.

The grim discovery was made over several weeks during an aerial survey by Elephants Without Borders and Botswana's Department of Wildlife and National Parks.

We started flying the survey on July 10, and we have counted 90 elephant carcasses since the survey commenced, Mike Chase, the charity director, said.

Each day we are counting dead elephants, he added.

The animals were shot with heavy calibre rifles at watering spots near a popular wildlife sanctuary in the Okavango Delta.

The scale of elephant poaching is by far the largest I have seen or read about in Africa to date, Chase said.

The poaching coincided with the disarming earlier this year of Botswana's rangers, according to Chase.

The number of African elephants has fallen by around 111,000 to 415,000 in the past decade, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The killing continues at a dizzying pace of about 30,000 elephants a year to meet demand for ivory in Asia, where tusks sell for around $1,000 (Dh3,673) a kilo.

Chase said elephants in Zambia and Angola, north of Botswana, have been poached to the verge of local extinction, and poachers have now turned to Botswana.

Botswana Tourism Minister Tshekedi Khama confirmed that dozens of elephants had been poached, but gave no further details.

The government was not immediately available to comment on rangers being apparently disarmed earlier this year.

Botswana previously had a zero-tolerance approach to poaching, with a shoot-to-kill policy against poachers.

Poachers have also targeted rhino, said Chase, after six white rhino carcasses were found in recent months.


Tourism Observer

NAMIBIA: Air Namibia, Ethiopian Sign Code Share Agreement

Africa’s largest airline, Ethiopian Airlines, last week concluded a codeshare agreement with Air Namibia. The codeshare agreement covers Ethiopian thrice weekly services to Windhoek and the services of both airlines beyond their respective hubs. The agreement will allow both airlines to expand their global network through the services of each airline and also facilitate the provision of competitive and convenient travel choices to their respective customers.

Mr. Girma Shiferaw, Acting Vice President, Strategic Planning and Alliances said, 'We are glad to partner with Air Namibia. It is my sincere belief that such strategic collaboration among African airlines is one of the necessities to see African aviation thrive and grow faster in line with the economic development of the continent.

Now, customers of Air Namibia will enjoy seamless connection on Ethiopian ever expanding global network across five continents with a minimum layover in Addis Ababa; conversely, our passengers will be able to access destinations beyond Windhoek on Air Namibia flights'.

In response did Air Namibia's Acting Managing Director, Advocate Ellaine Priscilla Samson say: 'We are very pleased with the signing of the codeshare agreement with Ethiopia Airlines, an airline which achieved amazing accomplishments in the global arena. This will be an opportunity for the liberalization of intra-Africa air transport in furtherance of the Yamoussoukro Decision as two African carriers.

In addition, this will assist Air Namibia to expand its network via the global reach and stature of Ethiopia Airlines. Hence the teaming of our two airlines is the consummate endeavor of our continent moving towards a fuller liberalization in the aviation sector'.

The codeshare agreement will allow Ethiopian and Air Namibia to place their codes on each other’s flights beyond their respective hubs.Ethiopian will place its code on SW flights from Windhoek to Gaborone, Luanda, Victoria Falls, and Cape town, while Air Namibia will place it’s code on ET flights between Addis Ababa and Windhoek, Beijing, Lagos, Los Angeles, and São Paulo.

Ethiopian Airlines currently serves more than 90 global destinations across five continents with over 240 daily departures.

SWAZILAND: Sky World Travel & Tours Opens Up Swaziland

Sky World Travel & Tours have recently updated their schedule with brand new routes available to offer more variety to tourists and local travellers needing a shuttle service to, from and across Swaziland.

Sky World are one of a few companies in Swaziland that offer luxury minibus shuttles between Johannesburg and Swaziland. With an average journey time of four to five hours by road, it is no surprise that many tourists are opting to fly to Johannesburg OR Tambo airport, an international hub offering a huge variety of flights all across the world, and then arranging road transport just across the border into Swaziland.

For those wishing to visit Kruger National Park in South Africa, Sky World now offer connections between Swaziland and Nelspruit, a journey taking just over two hours from Mbabane. In order to cater for every travellers needs across the border, they plan to offer shuttles to Maputo, Gaborone and Maseru by the end of 2016.

Swaziland is known for it’s strong culture and annual events that gain recognition worldwide and always guarantee a huge turnout. In order to meet demand, Sky World also offer transport to all the major events such as the Umhlanga Reed Dance (August/September), Incwala (December) and Buganu Marula Festival (February/March).

Current scheduled trips include:

· Airport Transfers from King Mswati III Airport
· Daily - Swaziland - Johannesburg – Swaziland
· Weekend – Swaziland – Nelspruit – Swaziland
· Umhlanga Culture Tour (September)
· Buganu Culture Tour (March)

BOTSWANA: Air Botswana Finds New Marriage With Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways is pleased to announce a code-share partnership with Air Botswana, offering Qatar Airways travellers enhanced access to three key destinations in Botswana, Africa.

The partnership with Air Botswana, the national airline of Botswana, will provide Qatar Airways passengers with connections to the Botswana cities of Gaborone, Francistown and Maun via Qatar Airways’ South Africa gateway Johannesburg. Qatar Airways operates double-daily flights between Johannesburg and its state-of-the-art hub, Hamad International Airport in Doha, with onward flights to more than 150 destinations worldwide.

The new code-share agreement allows business and leisure travellers fast and convenient access to the home of Botswana’s rich mineral industry, abundant game reserves and luxury safari lodges. Botswana’s luxurious tourism experiences are complemented by Qatar Airways’ ultra-modern fleet of aircraft featuring the world’s best Business Class on services to South Africa.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said when making the announcement: 'Our new code-share agreement with Air Botswana will offer even greater opportunities for passengers from across our global network, especially from key markets in Europe and Asia to easily connect with popular destinations in Botswana, to take advantage of exclusive leisure experiences. Code-share partnerships and airline alliances continue to play an important role for Qatar Airways. We are committed to serving the travel needs of the African market and the addition of Air Botswana flights to Qatar Airways’ route network is an important expansion of our network'.

The Southern African region is an important market for Qatar Airways, with three destinations in South Africa including Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, and on the east Maputo in Mozambique. Expansion in this region is a key focus for Qatar Airways, having launched services to the Namibian capital Windhoek on 28th of September, with Lusaka in Zambia to follow, and the resumption of services to the Seychelles in December 2016.

Air Botswana’s Acting General Manager, Ms. Agnes Khunwana, said: 'We are delighted to join forces with a renowned global airline like Qatar Airways to launch code-share services to a number of Botswana cities. This partnership provides Qatar Airways’ passengers with easy and direct access to a number of key business and high-end leisure destinations across Botswana while providing easy access to Qatar Airways’ global network for the people of Gaborone, Francistown and Maun when booking directly with Qatar Airways. We look forward to working closely with Qatar Airways into the future'.

In Eastern Africa does Qatar Airways fly to Entebbe, Kigali, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar and this latest expansion into Africa provides the continent with quality air services connecting Africans to the rest of the world with just one stop in the airline's award winning hub airport in Doha, Hamad International.