Lufthansa: Frankfurt-Munich-Cairo-Khartoum-Entebee-Dar Es Salaam: April 1968

This busy first day cover provides a map and a verbal list routing for this flight, which commences in Frankfurt but leaves German soil at Munich, which appears to be the focus of the celebration: the stamp shows the Frauenkirche and states "Entebbe-Munich", although the routing neither begins nor ends at either point, according to the information on the envelope: Cairo, Khartoum and Dar Es Salaam are also links in the chain.

Lufthansa: Douala-Libreville-Kinshasa

A quintessential Lufthansa first-day cover, with plenty of graphics (an inviting beach scene as well as a stately elephant cancellation stamp) and loaded with information, including flight number and aircraft. This is similar to Lufthansa's East African services, which only demarcate intra-African routes; its not clear if this implies that Lufthansa was able to carry passengers within Africa, though its likely. Today Lufthansa still shuttles the petroleum industry to Gabon, and recently announced another petrolstop at Port Noire, Congo (never served before) but is absent from Douala and Kinshasa.

Lufthansa: Frankfurt-Entebbe-Nairobi-Dar Es Salaam-Mauritius

This colorful Lufthansa item has both a large, customized cancellation and a striking, multichrome envelope for the occasion. Apparently, a grove of palms with a dark background, suggesting the edge of a jungle, was the only common element that came to mind to represent this East African line. Taken with yesterday's item, it seems that the Frankfurt-Entebbe-Dar Es Salaam services was consolidated with Kairo and Nairobi, and extended to Mauritius, in April 1970. Today, Lufthansa serves Cairo frequently, but has dropped all of these other destinations.

Lufthansa: Entebbe-Dar Es Salaam

Just like yesterday's post, this Lufthansa announcement was dignified with a cancellation stamp, not a unique or graphic envelope. According to this information, the flight departed on 30 December 1966 directly from Frankfurt to Dar Es Salaam via Entebbe. Dar Es Salaam was once the capital of German East Africa. Lufthansa serves neither city at present, nor was it able to keep its route to Nairobi alive.

Lufthansa/Zambia Airways Joint Venture: Frankfurt-Lusaka

This Erstflug briefmark apparently did not warrant the issuance of special envelope, but did prompt the production of a special cancellation stamp, with the twin disc logos of Lufthansa and Zambia Airways, celebrating non-stop Frankfurt-Lusaka service with a B707 in 1976.