Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG), Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ loyalty programme, recently introduced its iPad app and new design to support iOS 7.

“Travel is inherently mobile and the rapid advancements in technology enable us to extend the personalised experience guests receive in our hotels to their most personal devices,” said Chris Holdren, Senior Vice-President, Starwood Preferred Guest & Digital. “Following our success with the SPG app for iPhone, we built the SPG app for iPad using insights we have gained from our members.”

Today’s travellers are increasingly using mobile devices to search for and explore destinations, as well as book rooms and other travel services. Industry wide, 40% of travel searches occur on mobile devices, up from 25% in 2012. Starwood’s mobile bookings are growing at an annual rate of 1,000% – five times greater than the annual growth rate of the web channel 10 years ago.

The SPG app for iPad will launch in both English and Chinese and will be updated with additional versions and multiple languages. The app is currently available for free from the App Store on iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad or at www.spg.com/mobileapps.

Kenya secures loan for airport expansion

According to Airnews.com, Kenya's airport authority has received full funding offers from three banks to build a new terminal and second runway at its main Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, which was hit by a massive fire last month, the transport minister said earlier this week.

The $653 million plan to expand the airport, a regional gateway for passengers and cargo, is not new, but the authorities have come under pressure to speed up the expansion after the blaze destroyed the arrivals terminal.

The new terminal and runway will provide a further capacity of 40 million passengers, seen by government as necessary to cope with the anticipated boost to the economy the expected exploitation of oil reserves will bring.

The old arrival hall stands empty after the blaze, while giant tents act as the arrivals terminal. Even before the fire, Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta Airport, built in the 1970s to handle 2.5 million passengers annually, was struggling to handle more than six million people a year as its regional importance grew.

 

Edelweiss reduces Kenya schedule

Edelweiss, the Swiss charter airline, has decided to withdraw its flights to Mombasa, Kenya, between 5 May and 29 September 2014.

The airline has been flying to the Kenyan coast for a number of years, regardless of season, but has now decided to scale back its operation to both Mombasa and Kilimanjaro.

According to Michael Trestl, air development manager at Edelweiss, reasons behind this decision include a lack of demand, especially for Mombasa, and operational reasons.

The airline will continue its scheduled flights to Kenya during the European winter season, 30 September to 4 May, as residents up north escape the plummeting temperatures for sunny holiday destinations.

Air Namibia's new planes

 According to AllAfrica.com, Namibia’s flag carrier will retire its old Airbus A340-300 plane and receive the first of two Airbus A330-200s at the end of the month. The second aircraft should arrive in November.

Air Namibia is leasing two brand new A330s, which are expected to reduce costs and boost revenue.

"This decision fits well with our efforts to continually strive to improve operational efficiency, as we align the services of the airline with the needs of the market, match and exceed competitor offerings, and achieve acceptable financial performance with the resources that are available to us and which we strive towards at all times," said Paulus Nakawa, Air Namibia's head of corporate communications.

The new planes are fitted with 30 Business Class seats and 214 Economy Class seats, for a total of 244 seats. The soon to be phased out A340s have 278 seats in total, comprising 32 in Business and 246 in Economy.

The airline said that while larger aircraft have a lower cost per seat, all the seats must be sold for this low-cost benefit to be realised. The current average passenger load per year on the Windhoek-Frankfurt route is 220 passengers, meaning that full value of the cost per seat is not being realised as some seats go unoccupied.

The Airbus A330-200 is said to be a more flexible aircraft for new routes, while also offering modern and mature aviation technology.
 

"The new Airbus A330-200s will break the long history of Air Namibia operating quad powered aircraft (four engines) with twin-powered aircraft on its long-haul operations between Namibia and Europe. These planes come with improved operating technologies which offer way much better savings on operating costs," Nakawa said

Proflight Zambia heads to Dar es Salaam

Proflight Zambia has announced the launch of flights from Lusaka to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, starting 23 October.

The new service, which will run three times a week, is the second international route for the Zambian airline - it began flying to Lilongwe in Malawi in June.

Flights will depart Lusaka’s Kenneth Kaunda International Airport at 08h00 on Mondays and Fridays, arriving at Dar-es-Salaam’s Julius Nyerere International Airport  at 12h20, making it a journey of three hours and 20 minutes, given the one-hour time difference.

The return flight leaves Dar es Salaam on the same days at 13h00, arriving in Lusaka at 15h20, from where travellers can connect to Mfuwe, Livingstone and Ndola.

There will also be a Wednesday flight, for which Proflight is awaiting confirmation from regulators on timing.

Proflight Zambia is also considering services to Harare, Tete and Johannesburg, subject to regulatory approval.

It addition to the new route to Tanzania, which will be operated by the airline’s 29-seat Jetstream 41 aircraft, Proflight  will increase the frequency of its Lilongwe flights from three to four flights a week from 16 November, operating on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

Monday, Thursday and Friday flights will leave Lusaka at 16h15, returning from Lilongwe at 18h25. Timing for the Wednesday flight has yet to be confirmed, but the airline hopes to be able to provide smooth connections from Lusaka on to the Dar es Salaam service.

With the introduction of the Tanzania route, Proflight Zambia will operate 11 scheduled routes using nine aircraft, including a Boeing 737 aircraft which was recently added to the Proflight fleet as the airline's first jet aircraft.

South Supreme launches Juba-Khartoum flights

According to eTurboNews, South Sudan’s South Supreme Airlines recently launched its first commercial flight between Juba, South Sudan, and Khartoum, Sudan.

 

The South Sudan Civil Aviation Authority was established at the end of February. It licensed SSA and granted the airline its air operator certificate before giving it designated carrier status for flights to Khartoum.

 

South Supreme is currently using an Antonov A26 to service the route, but is reportedly looking to lease B737-300 aircraft for the flights to Khartoum and other destinations in East Africa.

 

In the same report, RwandAir is said to have settled on a date for the launch of its flights to Juba – 21 September. The flight from the Rwandan capital of Kigali will be made on the airline’s new CRJ900NextGen airplane, providing both Business and Economy class options for passengers.

 

According to the Senior Manager Sales Alice Katiti, fares will start at $350 for a return flight. This route will connect South Sudan with East Africa, Johannesburg, Dubai, Brazzaville, Libreville, Lagos and Accra, with Douala and Abidjan coming on line soon, too.

 

The report also revealed that Mango, one of South Africa’s low-cost carriers, will be adding a second weekly flight from Johannesburg to Zanzibar, from 21 September.

International destinations for Proflight Zambia

South Africa Proflight Zambia has unveiled plans to add three further international destinations to its schedule by mid-2014.

Following the successful launch of its first international service, from Lusaka to Lilongwe in June, Proflight Zambia is now planning to fly from Ndola to Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with connections between Ndola and Lusaka.

The airline is also considering services to Harare, Dar es Salaam, Tete and Johannesburg, subject to regulatory approval.

With the introduction of the Malawi route, Proflight Zambia currently operates 10 scheduled routes using nine aircraft, including a 105-seat Boeing 737, which was recently added to the Proflight fleet as the airline's first jet aircraft.

Proflight is keen to introduce flights to Johannesburg from Lusaka and is examining the option of flying into South Africa’s smaller Lanseria airport, for which costs are lower than that of the city’s main O.R. Tambo International airport.

Lanseria is on the Sandton/Pretoria side of Johannesburg, closer to Lusaka in terms of flying time, as well as central Johannesburg, Pretoria and Sandton. Lanseria is also served by Kulula and Mango Airlines, which fly to Cape Town and Durban from Lanseria.

The airline has appealed for input from travellers to help it identify how best the new services can be structured. Suggestions, recommendations or opinions that would help the airline with its market research and decisions on this route can be sent to enews@proflight-zambia.com.