New visa rules for children travelling into and out of Botswana

South African Airways (SAA) has advised that (following a decision by the Government of Botswana last month) new visa entry rules have come into force for children travelling into and out of Botswana.

SAA’s Country Manager for Australasia Tim Clyde-Smith said the Botswana Ministry of Nationality, Immigration and Gender Affairs has stated that (effective October 1) it is imposing new requirements for any children under 18 travelling through the country’s ports of entry, including non-residents and foreigners.

“Coming into force last month and effective immediately, minors travelling through Botswana’s borders will need to produce certified copies of unabridged birth certificates in addition to valid passports,” Clyde-Smith said.

“Where one parent is not travelling with the child, the other parent’s affidavit consenting to travel should be presented. However, an affidavit will not be required if the father’s name does not appear on the child’s birth certificate,” he said.

“This will impact any child under 18 travelling with or without parents through Botswana and is already being strictly imposed. It results from increasing concerns at the incidence of child trafficking and is in line with UN recommendations.”

“We have already seen the imposition of similar regulations in South Africa which remain in place despite some South African Government discussion around possible changes. At this time the original regulations remain and can be found here: www.dha.gov.za

SAA has advised all travel agents and partners across Australia and New Zealand. We hope that no passengers are inconvenienced by this new regulation but would request that people ensure they have the correct paperwork in place well before they leave to travel to Botswana, particularly at a very busy time of year.

Malaysia Aviation Group Appoints New COO for Malaysia Airlines Berhad and CEO for MASwings

Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) has announced the appointment of Captain Izham Ismail as the new Chief Operations Officer (COO) of Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB), effective 1 November 2016. Captain Izham served a short stint as CEO of MASwings and is now replaced by Aminuddin Zakaria.

In announcing the appointment, Group CEO Peter Bellew said, “On behalf of the Board of MAG, I am very pleased to welcome Captain Izham back to MAB. He is no stranger to the role having served as Director of Operations from 2012 to 2015. With close to 36 years of experience in the aviation industry, and having just completed the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School, I am confident that he will be able to lead the Operations and Engineering Division to new levels of excellence. Being our own internal home grown talent, I look forward to working closely with him in delivering operational excellence to the entire Group.”

Emirates Double-Deckers Make It a New Zealand Double-Header

Emirates notched up a momentous double-header when it introduced its flagship A380 double-decker aircraft on two New Zealand routes on the same day.

The airline’s step-up in capacity on both its Christchurch service and its non-stop Dubai-Auckland flight means that Emirates now has an all-A380 offering across its five daily New Zealand services.

On the same morning, flight EK448 set off from Dubai on its 16-hour journey to Auckland, signalling the start of daily scheduled A380 services on the non-stop route previously operated by Boeing 777-200LR aircraft, while an Emirates A380 took off en route to Christchurch as the airline upgraded the route to New Zealand’s main South Island gateway from a Boeing 777-300ER operation.

As well as the non-stop route, Emirates currently also operates three other daily A380 services between Dubai and Auckland via Australia (Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane).

CEB boosts flights to popular PH destinations

Australians can now reach even more of the Philippines thanks to Cebu Pacific. Travellers can fly direct to Manila and then connect to 36 domestic destinations.

The Philippines’ leading carrier, Cebu Pacific (PSE: CEB), promotes travel to popular Philippine destinations, through additional frequencies starting fourth quarter of 2016.

Domestic traffic is expected to increase for this year’s semester and holiday break, with forward bookings reflecting growing demand for air travel to and from key destinations across the country. From October 30, 2016 onwards, CEB aims to meet this demand by adding frequencies to and from 18 domestic destinations.

CEB’s flights between Manila and Cauayan will increase from four times weekly to daily. The airline will also increase services out of Manila on the following routes: Manila-Bacolod (from 49 to 52 times weekly), Manila-Busuanga (25 to 28 times weekly), Manila-Cagayan de Oro (54 to 59 times weekly), Manila-Cotabato (9 to 10 times weekly), Manila-General Santos (28 to 31 times weekly), Manila-Legazpi (29 to 39 times weekly), Manila-Naga (11 to 14 times weekly), Manila-Pagadian (9 to 11 times weekly), and Manila-Zamboanga (25 to 33 times weekly).