Monday, June 15, 2009

African Airlines & The Private Jets of Presidents

Dusty and neglected on the tarmac is this giant jet (probably a DC ) that was used by the president in the past, now forgoten and forlon.
A newer jet is now in place for the leader's personal use. This is a country without an Airforce. No second airport and hence the president's private splendour is right there for all to see. In a continent with about 40 airline's paractically all leaders have one or two private planes at their disposal. For instance, King Mswati III recently bought a new private jet for £28 million. Yet a quarter of his country needs food aid, 22 per cent of them have HIV, and the entire Swazi health budget is pounds £12.6 million.
Apart from the private airplanes for personal use of the African leader, the continent has about 40 airlines. Africa Airlines Association http://www.afraa.org/ based in Nairobi has amongst its memebrship many private airlines-an emerging trend- due to the continuing demise of oft mismanaged national carriers. A more recent addition is Virgin Nigeria which is flying to new destiantions in the West Africa region with predictable frequency.
Virgin Nigeria is an offshoot of Virgin Atlantic owned by Branson. This airline continues to fly to and from all the corners of Africa using the regional hubs of Johanesburg, Nairobi, Lagos, etc to link the continent with the rest of the world.
Kenya Airways though smaller than the giants of African skys-South African Airways, Ethiopian, Air Maroc, Tunisair and Air Algerie, - has continued to perform better and is well loved in the regions they serve outside Kenya, especially West Africa.
CVA from Cape Verde is a private airline that has been in operation since 1956. Not many national airlines can claim such longevity. I loved their professional demeanor.
Nigeria has numerous local airlines like Arik Air, Aero Contractors, Afrijet, Bellview, Capital Airlines Chanchangi Airlines, Dana Air, IRS Airlines and Virgin Nigerian flying to various destinations within the country and in the region. Bellview above is one of the bigger and busier ones. Others are Arik and Virgin Nigeria. One in every four Africans is a Nigerian and that should explain why they have so many airlines.

African Airports & Airlines

The Lagos Transit Lounge- Lonely if you must spend the night between flights
Lagos' Murtala Mohammed Airport from the tarmac
Named after a past Nigerian leader, as is the practice in Africa
Dakar Airport from the tarmac
Banjul Airport- recently upgraded from a cattle shed-like structure by an AU meeting in 2006
Dakar's Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport Airport from the street- ongoing construction works. Nothing fancy to warrant all the fascination US Presidents have for Senegal.Patrick Smith (columnist), author of the long-running 'Ask the Pilot' column for Salon.com, called it the 'World's Worst Airport', commenting that he found there 'only squalor, an unnerving sense of confinement and to some extent danger'. I agree- I missed my connection due to the immigration officer's insistence on talking french only to proudly let me know of their prowess in english after the connecting flight was long gone!
Bamako's Senou International Airport - they have frenchmen cleaning plane cabins and supplying food. In Africa! In 2009!

In time for the president's birthday

We landed in Banjul on 25th May which was the President's 44th birthday. The day was a public holiday, ostensibly Africa Day, but by the look of the billboards on all highways, it is H.E. President Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya Jammeh's annual partying day. The local media reported the coming to town of a plane load of Nollywood actors and musicians to entertain the head of state. The country was on a go-slow the next morning and everybody blamed it on all the partying. For a pesident so young, Gambia will pay a heavy annual price to keep the big man humoured for years to come!