If you are scared of flying or love traveling in luxury, this post is no use to you. But if you love adventures and adopt a fatalistic approach in life, be ready for the most unpredictable journey of your life: just bring plenty of Bach flowers remedies in case of a sudden panic attack (or if you don’t believe in homeopathy, some serious drugs) and welcome on board Daallo Airlines! Never heard of it? Neither have Edinburgh-based travel agencies. Daallo Airlines is the leading Somali flying company that connects Somalia, Puntland and Somaliland daily to the rest of the world through Djibouti International Airport. Djibouti? Yes, the pleasant capital of the Republic of Djibouti. What a place! In fact it is not a place, it’s an oven. But let’s start with order.
As a follow-up to the collapse of Somali Government, Daallo Airlines was founded in 1991 with the aim of replacing the service once offered by Somali Airlines, the national airline of Somalia. At the time, sea and flight connections for the whole country of Somalia was almost non-existent. Daallo Airlines revived the Somali flying industry by hiring few small aircraft and serving the route Hargeisa-Djibouti. In response to a growing market demand, Daallo opened up its business to different routes and sectors. Today Daallo deals with passengers, cargo and charter flights. It flies to six Somali cities, three African, two European and two capitals in the Arabian Peninsula. The basis of Daallo’s success is two-fold. On the one hand unlike other places where flying companies have to rent infrastructure from the state, here there is no state to pay and Daallo can run the airline with no frills. On the other hand, the company meets the high-demanded need for transportation and easily finds customers among Somali Diaspora especially. In spite of the precarious political condition, Somali cities such as Hargeisa, Bosaso and to a certain extent Mogadishu, are very well-visited places. The Diaspora, who fled the country almost two decades ago, tend to go back frequently to visit family and friends. Indeed during summer time, Daallo flights are fully booked. Recent developments in the region increased Daallo’s success. Al-Shabab-led kamikaze attacks to Ethiopian Embassy in Somaliland (October 2008) caused Ethiopian Airlines to cancel all flight connections with Somaliland (of course, there are other ways to fly within Somalia: khat-flights carrying supplies from Ethiopia or Kenya, but I really doubt there are actually seats on the planes!)The success brought investors from Dubai who recently acquired most of Daallo which is now based in UAE.
Now that the background is out of the way, back to our adventure. Flying with Daallo is a really unforgettable experience! There are not so many places in the world where you can fly with half-century old Antonov-24, or Ilyushin I1-18. The Russian pilots don’t care much about uniforms or wishing you a good journey but are prompt to function as mechanics and technicians. Somali stewards tend to get involved in arguments with the pilots and may be left behind as result. Unlike other historical transport pieces, the propeller planes are not good to look at: so dirty you can hardly see outside the windows. But the inside is quite colourful: seats and equipment come from a range of twenty different planes. Air conditioning is failing, but the social policy could not be fairer: it does not matter whether you are traveling on first or second class the service is … let’s just say basic. Plus the staff won’t bore you with useless safety information and procedures but you could freely talk on mobiles while landing. And in case you forget your IPod or have no book to read, do not despair, your fellow traveler would probably ask you to chew khat and keep him company. Or if you are a female flying from Djibouti, you might be chatted up by members of French Foreign Legion who will impress you with unrealistic pirates’ stories. Still not convinced? Well if you are very lucky you might get the chance to be involved in excited hijacking attempt and bravely secured by the pilots, but thankfully, that didn’t happen to me. Fly Daallo! Looking forward to seeing you there!
Annalisa Urbano, Edinburgh
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