Aviation news - South Africa

Trans Air Congo B733 visited Lanseria

Rare visit of Trans Air Congo B737-300 to Lanseria airport

First visit of Omni Air B762 to Lanseria

Airlink Avro RJ85 visits Lanseria

Airlink Avro RJ85 visits Lanseria

Trans Air Congo at Lanseria for African Union Summit

Trans air congo at Lanseria airport for the African Union summit with balloon.

President of Benin in Lanseria for African Union Summit

Republic of Benin President aircraft at Lanseria airport

South African Air Force team and Mango Airlines perform in Pretoria

The South African Air Force display team, the Silver Falcons perform with Mango Airlines at the annual Swartkops Air Show in Pretoria.

First appearance of A350 in South Africa

A350 arrived in South Africa on 2 August 2014. Seen here on 3 August performing a series of approaches on runway 03R

Malawian Airlines, new Malawi flag-carrier

New airline for Malawi, using a aircraft from Ethiopian Airlines

First BA A380 to land in South Africa

First BA A380 to land in South Africa (and most probably Africa)

South African Shack's first engine run of the year

1722 gets hosed down after completing the first Shackleton engine run of 2014!

LAM Embraer ERJ-190 crashed in Namibia

This aircraft is reported missing on route to Luanda. All contact was lost at 11h30Z on the 29th of November 2013. The aircraft was found crashed and burnt down on Namibia's territory in the Bwabwata National Park east of Rundu (Namibia) the following morning (Nov 30th), no survivors were found.

New runway opens at Lanseria, South Africa

First landing on Lanseria's new runway 07-25 opened on 11-Nov-13. This has replaced the original runway 06-24. The new runway is wider.

British Airways - Comair new Boeing 737

The first B738 for Comair in the colours of British Airways. Note the replacement engine cowling borrowed from one of Mango's aircraft.

Air Zimbabwe - new ERJ-145

New aircraft for Air Zimbabwe, leased from Solenta Aviation.

Air Force One visits Waterkloof

VC-25A call sign Air Force One with US President on board, departing Waterkloof Air Base on route to Cape Town.

South African Douglas - C-47TP missing

Unfortunately this beautiful bird crashed Dec 5. I saw it doing quite a great performance, including some low pass parallel flying on the Waterkloof Air Show. It was reported missing en route from Waterkloof Air Base to Mthatha Airport (UTT). The airplane, belonging to the South African Air Force's 35 Squadron encountered severe weather conditions. Unconfirmed reports state that the aircraft last communicated with Air Traffic Control when above Giants Castle in the Drakensbergen mountain range, stating that they were at 11,000 feet and flying in Instrument Meteorological Conditions due to the bad visibility. The aircraft never arrived at Mthatha Airport. I kinda relate to what they might have felt in the last instants due to my experience with a DC-4 under severe weather and hail. It is not pretty. May they Rest in Peace...

New livery for Air Botswana

New Special Livery.

FlyCongo!

Awesome Catch!! Sorry for the "boring skyshot catalog" photo, but it was all that could be done for this 1984 built smoker. This new airline, FlyCongo, was registered in March 2012 to "replace" Hewa Bora. First Photo! Former N236AA with American Airlines.

Velvet Sky - South Africa's new low cost carrier

On short finals for rwy24, Velvet Sky is South Africa's latest low cost carrier and this was the airline's first week of operations. At the moment the airline operates from Johannesburg to Durban and Cape Town using this Boeing B733 with two more aircraft to follow later on this year.

South African A330 - joins the fleet

SAA's newest aircraft delivered on 8 February 2011 - A330-200 named Charlotte Maxeke. Seen here doing touch and go practice at waterkloof AIr Base in Pretoria. Charlotte Maxeke was a political activist in South Africa in the early 20th Century. SAA has ordered six A330-200s to replace the A340-200s.