---

---

East African Business Week (Kampala)

Burundi: Aviation Sector Soars

7 January 2008

---

opinion

I have always wanted to fly an aircraft, and late last year, I came close. Well, just close to the pilot actually. I flew Air Burundi Direct from Bujumbura to Entebbe, a journey that took only 1 hour 20 minutes.

This was in the official inaugural flight to Entebbe. This flight signified the beginning of scheduled flights to Entebbe, direct from Bujumbura and back. These flights are scheduled for every week on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

In his speech, delivered at a cocktail at Airport View Hotel in Entebbe, the Managing director, Mr. Melchior Nahimana said it was a good coincidence that the flights were resuming after July 1, 2007, when Burundi acceded to the East African Community.

"I hope these services will be a catalyst to develop the relations between out two countries like trade, cooperation, tourism and intergration," said Mr. Nahimana. He added that Air Burundi is safe and with the decades of experience behind them, they would be the best choice to fly to Burundi.

If you are used to the big jumbo jets, this flight is a little bit of a squeeze, but only because you cannot walk upright in the isles and you have to mind your head at the entrance. That is perharps the only drawback. Otherwise, the seats are actually more roomy than those in the jumbo which are made to carry a maximum number of people.

The legroom here is actually amazing for a small aircraft. The single Beechcraft (Raytheon Beech 1900C airliner) sits only a maximum of 18 passengers and this has its positive elements.

You get to see the pilot and co-pilot at work, a beautiful sight, if you are the aviation mad type with fantasies about flying an aircraft one day.

Then, you also get to have your own window. The seats are single and you also have some leeway to stretch your legs in the isle. The drawback is you do not get to have any carry-on luggage, unless it is as small as a laptop perharps.

The Beechcraft is also an amazingly stable aircraft. At one point, we flew right into a storm cloud, and I thought ... oh, my and braced myself for a rough ride. The passenger just behind me to my right was rolling his eyes, grunting and gripping the armrests. Apparently, first time flier or worse. A quick glance at the pilots restored my confidence. They were chatting away, like there was nothing to worry about. This air ofconfidence got transferred to the rest of the passengers. Another plus for flying "first class."

Yes, the plane was bumped a little, but nothing like what I experienced in a jumbo. Either there were no air-pockets or the plane was simply fabulous. It was a very nice ride overall and the passengers cheered both times the flight made a wonderful touch down.

At Entebbe, the cocktail was graced by the Burundi Ambassador to Uganda, Mr. Jean Ngendanganya who said "Uganda is a good market for Air Burundi for two main reasons. The first is that Ugandans in general are actually good tourists and visit Burundi quite often. The second is that Uganda is host to more than one million Burundians who had fled the insecurity in their homeland and are now actually Ugandans."

The entourage from Burundi included the Manager of transport in the ministry of Transport, the Director of Administration, Air Burundi Mme Marie-Solomé Ndabahariye, the Technical Director, Air Burundi, Mr. Elie Ntacorigira, journalists from the National Television and Radio Africa, Business executives and one passenger.

In Kampala, we were met by Officials from the Burundian Embassy to Uganda, led by the ambassador and his first Counselor, Mr. Celestin Sebutama, officials from Dairo Air and some really smart ground clearing staff from DAS Air, agents for Air Burundi.

Be the first to Write a Comment!

---