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Biographies
. Photos
A,,
Photos
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The
World's Major Airlines
Review
by Jerry W. Bird, Editor and
Publisher
With
our biggest aviation edition in
ten years well underway,
serendipity played its familiar
role in my life when I received
THE WORLD'S MAJOR AIRLINES by
David Wragg. It arrived by mail
last week courtesy of the MBI
Publishing, St. Paul, MN and was
presented by John Wurm, Publicist
for Military and Aviation. I plan
to write this book review in
installments, since my first
reading was to get an overall
position on how valuable this
timely and well researched book
will be in my evaluation of
Africa's airlines and others
serving the continent. Here are
some comments from MBI that help
set the stage. "Today there are
so many airlines operating
throughout the world that even
the most knowledgeable enthusiast
can soon become confused about
which airline flies from where to
where. This new, fully
illustrated edition has been
revised and updated to include
the major advances in the
aviation industry since 1998.The
author has added introductions
for each nation, summarizing its
history of civil aviation and
placing the subsequent entries in
context. In the World's Major
Airlines David Wragg provides
more than 500 entries. Listed in
alphabetical order by country is
every airline in the world which
has more than five aircraft with
more than 19 seats,or equivalent
cargo capacity. Comprehensive
information is given on the name,
history, bases, aircraft
operated, routes flown, number of
passengers and tonnage of cargo
flown annually, and much other
useful and interesting data. The
World's Major Airlines is an
invaluable source of reference
for aviation enthusiasts,
travelers and those working
within the industry." More to
come.
 Hot
News and Flight News from East
Africa
by Prof. Wolfgang Thome of
Kampala
There is so much happening in
East Africa in the last few
years, we have given it a
separate section on this website.
More->
AIR
TANZANIA FLEET NEWS:
Tanzania's
national airline has now all but
confirmed that they will get
their first Airbus A320 before
the end of the year, at which
time their planned fleet renewal
will begin in earnest. The first
Q300 is also due to join the
fleet around the same time, if
not before, while delivery of
their ordered Q400's is due by
end of 2008 and early 2009. It
was also learned that the
operating losses caused by the
previous management of about 1
million US Dollars a month have
been very substantially reduced
already, which allowed the
Tanzania government to phase out
the monthly subsidy for ATCL. The
airline is understood to be
partnering with a major Chinese
carrier, which is intent to
commence flights to East Africa
and use Air Tanzania to feed and
defeed traffic into the region
and across the continent. It was
also learned that a buyer is in
the frame to acquire one of the
ATCL B737 aircraft with the
intent of the operating it in the
region, which would be good news
for Air Tanzania's cash flow of
course. Watch this space for
emerging aviation news from the
East African region.
KENYA
AIRWAYS SUSPENDS KISUMU FLIGHTS,
AGAIN:
Following
major maintenance for their Saab
340 aircraft, KQ has suspended
their Kisumu flights once again.
The airline has refused to deploy
their new Embraer 170 aircraft on
the route citing the state of the
runway as a major obstacle. An
airline official confirmed that
small stones and loose gravel
found on the runway may be sucked
into the engines causing damages
to the aircraft and requested the
Kenya Airport Authority to carry
out more repairs to the runway
ahead of the planned major
expansion and resurfacing of the
single runway the airport has.
Kenya Airways has also suspended
flights to Bamako in West Africa
due to safety concerns over the
state of the runway at Senou
International Airport. Visit the
airline website for updated
information on their schedules
www.kenya-airways.com
Icons
of
Aviation:
Book
Reviews include a biography of
the most dedicated tourism
pioneer in America's North
Country, Mr. Alaska, Charlie
West. Also, Edmonton's Grant
MacConachie, founder of Canadian
Pacific Airlines, who dreamed of
an air bridge to the Orient and
across the pole.
How
did Doctor Doolittle talk to the
animals? Send us your suggestions
for our wildlife conservation
series. Fax 604.681.6595 or send
E-Mail
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