SAA Enters ‘Business Rescue’ Restructuring – Flights Not Impacted

Due to current financial conditions, South African Airways’ Board of Directors and the Department of Public Enterprise within the South African Government have announced that South African Airways will be placed under business rescue with immediate effect. The business rescue process in South Africa is very similar to the Chapter 11 protection under U.S. bankruptcy laws, which will allow South African…

Chobe Hot Air Ballooning Launched

AirVentures Balloon Safaris and An African Anthology have launched hot air ballooning in the Chobe region in Botswana. The operation, managed by AirVentures, will be based at Elephant Valley Lodge within the Kasane Forest, but the activity is also available to guests at other camps in the region. AirVentures offers balloon safaris over the vast Seloko Plains concession. The…

SAA Reaccommodates Passengers Due to Strike

South African Airways is implementing the re-accommodation policy due to the ongoing industrial action by SACCA (South African Cabin Crew Association) and NUMSA (National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa). All SAA international flights to/from New York-JFK, Washington, DC-Dulles, London, Frankfurt, Munich, Sao Paulo, Hong Kong and Perth were restored by Monday, November 18…

Pending SAA Strike Cancels Flights

South African Airways (SAA) regrets to announce that South African Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) have given required notice of the intention for their members to embark on industrial action against South African Airways, possibly as early as Friday, November 15, 2019. In an effort to…

Rhinos Return to Malawi

In one of the largest international rhino translocations to date, 17 Endangered Black Rhinos have made the historic journey from South Africa to Liwonde National Park in Malawi In a unique collaboration between WWF South Africa’s Black Rhino Range Expansion Project (BRREP), African Parks, Malawi’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife,…

Kenya Airways and Safarilink Sign Partnership

Kenya Airways has signed an agreement with Safarilink, to provide passengers with connectivity to tourist destinations in Kenya and Tanzania. The airlines will partner on destinations in Maasai Mara, Amboseli, Diani, Kapese, Kitale, Lewa Downs, Loisaba, Migori, Samburu, Lamu, Zanzibar, Ukunda, Vipingo, Kilimanjaro, Tsavo West, Samburu, Nanyuki and Lodwar. Safarilink has a network of connecting…

Malawi Launches Online eVisa System

The Malawi Department of Immigration and Citizenship Service wishes to announce the launch of an online visa service for visitors to Malawi effective 1st November 2019. Through the Malawi online visa service, applicants will be able to register and login on the e-visa platform, fill and submit and application, upload supporting documents including applicants photo…

New Rail Link Between Nairobi and Naivasha

Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) linking Nairobi with the resort town of Naivasha, welcomed its first passengers on October 18, a day after its launch by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta. “The completion of the Nairobi to Suswa section of SGR is expected to revolutionise development of this region through affordable transport. It will also stimulate tourism…

New ‘Latitude 0’ Hotel Opens in Kampala

The much anticipated new addition to the Latitude Hotels portfolio has now opened in Kampala Uganda. With views stretching out over Lake Victoria, and over the city of Kampala, Latitude 0° sits among indigenous orchid-filled trees atop of Makindye Hill, approximately 6 kms from the CDB, and 45 minutes from Entebbe International Airport. The hotel…

Kenya Takes on Plastic Waste

It used to be a familiar sight: a halo of ragged plastic bags festooning the trees, around Kenya’s towns and villages. Sometimes the plastic scar stretched for miles. Since such bags take a thousand years to break down, the wound on the wilderness didn’t go away — it just proliferated. Kenya’s world famous national parks…

De Hoop Lodge Closed Following Flooding

Natural Selection’s Lekkerwater Beach Lodge at De Hoop, in South Africa’s De Hoop Nature Reserve, will be closed until November 1 due to flooding, confirmed Colin Bell, Co-founder of Natural Selection and Developer of the Lekkerwater Beach Lodge. Bell told Tourism Update that the lodge had experienced at least 100ml of rainfall over a 20- to 30-minute period,…

Radisson Opens New Hotel in Nairobi

The Radisson Hotel Group has opened a new Radisson Blu and Residence in Nairobi, Kenya. The Radisson Blu Hotel and Residence, Nairobi Arboretum is close to the city centre and 45 minutes from the airport. The hotel features 122 rooms, each with a private balcony, 24-hour room service and free WiFi. Other features include a…

Fundraiser Seeks to Save the Last Rhinos

Kirsty Perring, owner of Traversing Africa and APTA Executive Board member, hosted a fundraiser in Toronto recently to create awareness for rhino conservation. The event was held at Parcheggio at Bayview Village and Grant Fowlds, a passionate wildlife conservationist and ambassador for Project Rhino flew in from South Africa to speak about the vast increase…