MOROCCO/ALGERIA/SPAIN. Eight months after Algeria stopped its gas exports via the GME to deprive Morocco of this source of energy, Spain is reviving the pipeline to deliver gas to the kingdom, this time in the north-south direction.

EGYPT. Thanks to the signing of an €8.1bn contract with Siemens Mobility, Egypt will have a 2,000km high-speed rail system serving sixty cities across the country.

FRANCE. The merger between Air France-KLM and CMA CGM will allow the pooling of their cargo networks and the capacities of their respective all-cargo aircraft.

ALGERIA. The Algerian government is going to reinforce the international summer programme of Air Algerie and authorises the national company to acquire fifteen new aircraft.

EGYPT/TURKEY. The Egyptian public transport company is buying Turkish Volt Lines for $40m.

FRANCE. The Marseille-based shipping group CMA CGM has announced the acquisition of "almost 100%" of the capital of the French automotive logistics company GEFCO.

SPAIN. The European Commission authorises a Spanish State aid scheme worth €120 million to encourage the transfer of freight transport from road to sustainable rail.

FRANCE. Due to Covid-19, the 2021 traffic of French airports is up 29.5% compared to 2020, but down 57.7% compared to 2019 according to figures published by the Union of French Airports and Associated Francophones (UAF & FA).

ITALY. Allianz Real Estate, on behalf of several of its subsidiaries, signed an agreement on Tuesday 8 March 2022 to purchase eight logistics facilities in Italy for €91m.

ITALY. The European Commission authorises the Italian aid scheme to compensate commercial rail passenger transport operators for the damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

LEBANON / FRANCE. CMA Terminals, a wholly owned subsidiary of the CMA CGM group, has won the tender for the concession of the container terminal of the Port of Beirut awarded by the Temporary Management and Operation Committee of the Port of Beirut.

FRANCE / SPAIN. The SNCF has unilaterally decided to break off its agreement with its Spanish colleague Renfe for the joint service of fast trains between France and Spain.

MEDITERRANEAN. On the occasion of a conference on the challenges facing Mediterranean ports at the Mediterranean Worlds Forum, representatives of MedPorts announced that the Port of Thessaloniki would be joining their association.

TUNISIA. The Tunisian Ministry of Tourism and Handicrafts has unveiled the return of cruises to the port of La Goulette, near Tunis, in March 2022.