Good day all

Once again its with a heavy heart that I greet you today due to the loss of a selfless aviator and dedicated firefighter. Nico Heyns sadly was involved in a fatal helicopter crash while fighting a fire in the Vermaaklikheid area near Riversdale in the Western Cape.

Nico was a veteran chopper pilot with many hours firefighting experience, Our sincerest condolences to Nico’s family, friends, Kishugu Aviation and Working On Fire families and all that knew and loved him.

Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for others.

Rest in eternal peace Nico, you will be missed

The fight against the fire continues please assist if you can. These guys are out there in terrible conditions fighting to save lives and property PLEASE HELP!!!

This weekend is going to be a busy one for aviation in the Gauteng and Northwest Province with a Nav Rally being planned for Saturday at Baragwaneth Airfield.

Breakfast will be served from 08:00

08:30 Compulsory Briefing at the Club House

08:45 Training Session on plotting and flying the route

10:30 first aircraft off

Prize Giving after the event

Bring and Braai in the afternoon

Please remember to book your spot at

Wonders of Aviation and The Aeroclub of South Africa Transformation and Development Section will be hosting an Aviation Fun Day at Brits Airfield.

Neville Ferreira will be at Brits this Saturday, he will be giving a talk on the life of an aerobatics pilot, be sure to join if you aspire to fly aerobatics.

Remember to book you place at the Aeroclub of South Africa Awards Dinner to be held on the 17 November

SAA to get R5 billion bailout

The National Treasury has confirmed that South African Airways, SA Express, will receive further financial support, in its medium-term budget policy statement. SAA will receive R5 billion through a special appropriation bill to settle debt redeeming between now and March 2019.

This will help prevent a call on the airline’s outstanding debt of R16.4 billion, which is guaranteed by government, Treasury said.In additional, R1.2 billion has been allocated to South African Express. These allocations will be paid from a contingency reserve and unspent funds from other government departments, Treasury said.

In a separate section focusing on the risks associated with South Africa’s state-owned enterprises, Treasury said that SAA has a R19.1 billion government guarantee – R14.5 billion of which has been used.

“In 2018/19, government is allocating R5 billion to help the airline repay this debt,” it said. “In general, SAA is not generating sufficient cash to repay its total debt and will have to negotiate with lenders to refinance or extend maturity dates.”

The national carrier is one of several state-owned companies that will struggle to refinance or redeem debt without government assistance at a time when access to credit is becoming more difficult due to weak balance sheets, poor governance and liquidity challenges, the Treasury said.

Contingent liabilities due to government guarantees for debt of state companies is a major risk to the fiscal path.

According to a report by Bloomberg, state-owned firms have a combined debt load of R1.6 trillion, of which R670 billion is guaranteed by the government, according to the budget review.

Debt redemptions by the 10 biggest borrowers will average R66 billion annually in the next two fiscal years, more than government repayments due over the same period.

Uber Air could see SA shoppers flying to malls via “Skyports”

Ridesharing company Uber says it is working on "a whole generation of transport modalities" – one of which is Uber Air, an urban aviation ride sharing product that could see shoppers being picked up or dropped off at skyports.

And it plans to bring Uber Air to South Africa, although the country will not be part of the inaugural proposed rollout. The concept is set to go live in Los Angeles and Dubai in the next few years. According to Uber, Uber Air is a "urban aviation ridesharing product" in development. "A network of small, electric aircraft that take off and land vertically … will enable rapid, reliable transportation between suburbs and cities and, ultimately, within cities," states Uber on its website.

Shavaye Govender, Uber’s lead for strategic partnerships and Uber for Business in sub-Sahara Africa, said on Thursday that for the retail sector, Uber Air would mean shoppers could jump into one of these devices and be dropped off or picked up at skyports situated on the rooftops of shopping centres. "We do have plans to also bring Uber Air not just to SA, but to the African continent as a whole," said Govender, who was a guest speaker at the annual congress of the SA Council of Shopping Centres taking place in Durban this week.

"You might be skeptical and say it will not happen here in SA, but would you have believed me if I told you five years ago that South Africans would jump into a car with a driver they did not know and not have to tell him where to go because you already entered it into an app?"

He said it was all about a mind-set change. "Imagine the traffic you will miss if you just jumped into an Uber Air. And it will be completely based on renewable energy," he explained. "We feel this can be part of the retail travel experience. It is about how to leverage the assets we have to connect people and make their lives better, while making the world better by reducing carbon emissions, and by creating more accessibility."

The company says its competition lies not in other ride sharing apps, but in making its services cheaper for consumers than owning vehicles. "We are looking at making the Uber way of travelling cheaper than owning your own vehicle and integrating the options of using an Uber car, bicycle or vertical vehicle," he said. "A whole different generation of transport modalities are coming into play and our true competition is really to eliminate your personal vehicle.”

ExecuJet celebrates the arrival of Africa’s first Pilatus PC-24

ExecuJet, part of the Luxaviation Group, is celebrating the arrival of Africa’s first Pilatus PC-24 Super Versatile Jet at its Cape Town FBO in South Africa.

The PC-24 touched down at Cape Town International Airport in South Africa on 15 October, where it was welcomed with a traditional water salute. The aircraft will be based at ExecuJet’s FBO facility at Cape Town International Airport, where ExecuJet will be responsible for the day-to-day management and operations on behalf of the aircraft owner.

Gavin Kiggen, Vice President Africa, ExecuJet, says: “All the staff at ExecuJet have been patiently anticipating the arrival of the PC-24 for months now and it was a significant day for everybody when the aircraft landed at its new home base. Africa is the obvious choice for the PC-24 as it has the perfect environment, with its testing terrain and challenging runways.

“We are honoured to be the first business aviation operator to manage the aircraft in the region and we look forward to managing the aircraft over the coming years.”

The PC-24 will be available for charter and offers clients the latest in in-flight entertainment and connectivity. With six passengers, departing from Cape Town, the aircraft can reach Angola, Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique. Flying from ExecuJet’s FBO at Lanseria International Airport in Johannesburg, passengers can reach the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Kenya and Mauritius.