By Garth Calitz Mozambique’s national airline has decided that if you are going to reinvent yourself, you might as well start with the name. Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique, better known to the aviation world simply as LAM, has begun a new chapter under the rather more internationally familiar name Air Mozambique, coinciding with the arrival of two Embraer E190s and an increasingly determined effort to drag the airline back towards operational stability. The timing is hardly acci

By Garth Calitz There are aircraft programmes that arrive with grand promises, enormous launch orders and enough PowerPoint slides to fill a hangar. Then there is the Embraer E-Jet, which quietly went about its business, convinced airlines that a 70- to 150-seat jet could actually be useful, and has now reached the rather significant milestone of 2,000 deliveries. Embraer celebrated the delivery of its 2,000th E-Jet on September 2, 2026, with the milestone aircraft, an E195-E

By Garth Calitz South Africa’s airline industry is taking precautionary measures to protect flight operations at Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport following an unplanned shutdown at the Natref refinery, highlighting once again the vulnerability of the country’s aviation fuel supply chain. There have been no widespread flight cancellations and Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) says there is currently sufficient fuel available to maintain operations. However, a

By Garth Calitz There is something rather fitting about Air Zimbabwe returning to London after a 14-year absence. The airline’s last attempt to maintain a regular connection between Harare and the British capital ended not with a grand strategic announcement or a carefully planned network restructuring, but with one of its Boeing 767s effectively being held hostage at London Gatwick. In December 2011, the aircraft was impounded following a court order obtained by American Gen

By Garth Calitz South Africa's domestic aviation market is heading into another potentially significant regulatory battle, with privately owned CemAir asking the Competition Tribunal to block Harith Aviation's proposed acquisition of FlySafair. At the heart of the dispute is a question that goes well beyond the ownership of one airline: can an investment group have interests in both a major airline and airport infrastructure without creating a conflict of interest? CemAir bel

By Garth Calitz South African Airways can appoint an Acting Group Chief Executive Officer. There is nothing particularly unusual about that. Companies do it all the time when a permanent executive leaves, goes on leave or becomes unavailable. But SAA is not simply another company filling an empty executive chair. It is the holder of an Air Operator Certificate and operates large commercial passenger aircraft under South Africa's Part 121 regulations. That means there is an im

By Garth Calitz Air Botswana, Botswana’s national flag carrier, is facing a growing operational challenge as two of its Embraer ERJ-145 regional jets remain grounded in Namibia, despite earlier expectations that they would return to service by July 2026. Their continued absence has contributed to schedule reductions and the cancellation of routes including Gaborone–Windhoek and Maun–Windhoek. The situation highlights a familiar problem in African regional aviation: owning or

Alaska Airlines has taken delivery of its 100th Boeing 737 MAX, marking an important step in the airline’s ongoing fleet renewal and expansion programme. The milestone comes as the carrier prepares for further growth in both its domestic network and international operations, supported by an expanding fleet of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft and 787 Dreamliners. The latest delivery took place in Seattle, Washington, where Alaska Airlines employees joined Boeing personnel to mark the a

By Rob Russell I remember writing an article, albeit in November 2018, talking of the consequences of there only being one runway available at Cape Town. Should it become blocked, there would be diversions all over the country. And passengers stranded at Cape Town that could not fly out. Read it here Well, it happened on a grey, misty and overcast day, Tuesday the 4th August 2026 to be precise An international operator due to land mid-morning on a scheduled flight had to dive

Kumba Iron Ore's privately operated Sishen Airport has received the prestigious Gold Aviation Safety Award, recognising its commitment to maintaining the highest standards of operational safety. The award followed the airport's annual compliance audit conducted by aviation safety specialists Liston and Associates, which assessed the facility against the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The achievement is particularly noteworthy as the audit r