How times have changed

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  • Anonymous
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    dutchyankee
    Participant

    Maybe a strange thread but I was just thinking about Tehran as BT has announced AF will restart service to Tehran. AF has a rather illustrious history serving Tehran as it was AF that actually flew the then exiled Ayatollah back to Iran when the Shah was ousted. Tehran used to be a major hub for Pan Am back in the day, and a number of airlines flew from Tehran to Tel Aviv, in the 60’s and early 70’s; just imagine that today!!

    There must be plenty of such anomalies in the world due to the ever changing politics. Havana comes to mind as well having been a major destination for Americans prior to Castro. Any others the forum members care to share!?


    Charles-P
    Participant

    One for us Colonial types is Salisbury Airport in Rhodesia now Harare International. A ‘hot and high’ airport the runway is a substantial 15,500 ft long.

    As a boy we flew Air Rhodesia down to Jan Smuts and then took the long flight to the UK with either BOAC or South African Airways.

    Today the laughably tragic Air Zimbabwe shares the airport with such names as EgyptAir , Emirates and Ethiopian Airlines


    dutchyankee
    Participant

    Absolutely spot on re: Air Zimbabwe and Harare airport. When I was living in Botswana I visited Zim often and remember flying an old Air Zim 707 between Harare and Victoria Falls, Thinking of Southern Africa, of course During the Apartheid era, SAA had to stop at SAL as almost no African nations allowed them into their air space. That stop brings back memories as well as SAL was desolate, nothing there, but a refuelling point for SAA.


    BEYbrit
    Participant

    My home airport has certainly seen it’s ups and downs! At one point the four (yes four!) Lebanese carriers were running a mini hub for the region. Then came the civil war and the golden days lost their shine.

    Again in 2006, with Israel bombing the runway and MEA evacuating the fleet to Larnaca using a taxiway, BEY saw a hold on flights.

    Now we have a runway capable of handling an A380, we have all major European an Gulf carriers and tourism is on the up.

    That said, until our neighbours find peace, BEY will remain a secondary airport at the far eastern end of the Med.


    Charles-P
    Participant

    BEYbrit – we all share your wish for peace in the region. One of our children’s first Nannies was from Beirut and she helped teach them French while them telling stories of the ‘exotic’ Middle East. She was always very proud of that fact that in Lebanon one could go skiing in the morning and swimming in the Mediterranean Sea in the afternoon


    dutchyankee
    Participant

    ” BEYbrit – 09/12/2015 13:09 GMT

    So true and such a shame. Beirut has always had the allure of the ‘Paris of the Middle East’ and I like many hope it will one day re-kindle that allure.


    SenatorGold
    Participant

    In the apartheid era but prior to Angolan independence in November 1975 South African Airways would stop in Luanda. Then for many years (and certainly while Angola was a People’s Republic) the only major airline serving Luanda was Aeroflot and later UTA and Sabena.

    In September 1989 I flew on an Air Zim B707 from Gatwick to Harare. I think about a year later or so they were replaced by B767s. In those days Air Zim was quite a good airline. Their offices were on Picadilly.
    On the same trip I flew from Lusaka to Harare first class on Zambia Airways (RIP), but they were using a MEA B707.


    Charles-P
    Participant

    My mother still talks about how she was supposed to be on Air Rhodesia Flight 825 that was shot down with a Russian missile by ZIPRA terrorists in September 1978, during the Rhodesian Bush War. 37 people died in the crash but the terrorists then approached the wreckage and massacred the 11 survivors.

    Her Land Rover broke down on the way to the airport and she missed the flight.


    BEYbrit
    Participant

    CharlesP – and indeed one still can ski and swim on the same day. The facilities for both are excellent.

    Dutchyankee – for those who make it here, the allure is still very much in evidence. Beirut is a beautiful city, with fabulous bars, restaurants and a welcoming population who are as beautiful as they are friendly.

    We feel as safe here as we would in any major European city – but it’s security built on shifting sands……


    SimonS1
    Participant

    One of my clients in Harare lost both parents in one of the Viscount incidents in 1978.

    I took a trip on Air Zim a couple of months back from Harare to Bulawayo. Like a trip back in the yards – 30 year old planes and the domestic terminal at Harare is like something from colonial times.


    canucklad
    Participant

    Keeping with the Southern African theme and a bright blue eyed little boy seem to remember that Embakasi Airport was always a busy hub for airlines heading south to apartheid Johannesburg, excepting of course the aforementioned SAA


    sparkyflier
    Participant

    Regarding Harare, in the early 90s their apron would feature Qantas 744, BA 744, TP Tristars, Swissair MD-11,Balkan TU -154, , and maybe UTA 747/DC10..


    SenatorGold
    Participant

    @sparkyflyer

    You are quite right about the airlines serving Harare in the early 90s. Lufthansa also served Harare via Johannesburg with a B747.

    BA returned to Salisbury/Harare in early 1980 not long after the Lancaster House agreement but before independence in April 1980. The initial routing was LHR-Nairobi-Harare-Durban. When BA started serving Cape Town in October 1984 the routing was LHR-Harare-Cape Town with a B747-200.

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