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.

Qantas: Sydney-Perth-Cocos Islands-Mauritius-Johannesburg

A delightful specimen from 1963, affixed with the postage of the Cook Islands. The pleasantly-hued map depicts the routing: Sydney-Perth-Cocos Islands-Mauritius-Johannesburg. Nowadays the route is non-stop from Sydney, and South African Airways still serves Perth from Jo'berg. Air Mauritius serves Perth, Melbourne and Sydney.

South African Airways: Worldwide, November 2009

This copper-and-chrome worldview shows the rainbow nation's reach via its flag carrier, with routes to North and South America, Australia, and Asia, as well as a dozen routes across its home continent.

British Airways: The African Routes, c.2000

A decade before Air France's map from yesterday is this classic BA map, with its signature "silk-web" route lines-- a typical throwback the company's heritage. Note the intra-South African flights, served by its affiliate Comair, as well as the now extinct Harare route, and the extension to Freetown.

Air France: The African Routes, July 2009

Air France and KLM, united as one company, dominate routes to Africa. Air France still serves nearly every former colonial capital, and KLM, an oil industry favorite, with strong East African services, overlays this network well. Taken with Skyteam's Kenya Airways affiliation, and the alliance is an African powerhouse (and a highly profitable venture).

Afriqiyah Airways Route Map, 2009

With the recent shocking tragedy of Afriqiyah 771 from Johannesburg, its timely to note this somewhat curious but fast-growing carrier, which unexpectedly emerged from the reclusive state and is well on its way to having a significant hub connecting Africa and Europe, often for prices far lower than the European carriers. In keeping with the Libyan government's fervent interest in—and frequent interference with—the West African region, the Afriqiyah venture was an attempt to solidify commercial links between Libya and the Saharan states, linking an array of francophone capitals such as Bangui, Cotonou, Lomé, N'Djamena, Niamey, and Ouagadougou that have traditionally only had long-haul links to Paris on Air France and Brussels on Sabena or Brussels Airlines. Afriqiyah serves those European cities as well, in addition to more secondary airports such as Geneva and Düsseldorf.

Interflug: Berlin-Freetown

Earlier than its 1972 celebration of jet service to West Africa is this November 1969 inaugural Freetown flight, although its not clear just what distinguishes the two events or what aircraft might have been in use, although with only the origin and destination listed, it suggests non-stop service. A handsome gazelle leaps gracefully across the cancellation stamp.

Interflug: Berlin-Singapore

Very late in its life, Interflug changed course radically, utilizing Western Airbus aircraft and stretching farther in search of relevance and revenue, such as this July 1989 launch to Singapore. Interflug would be liquidated by Lufthansa less than two years later. Apparently not enough East Berliners headed to Raffles.

The Inauguration of Ghana Airways, 1958

Ghana Airways had a long history following this cover issue, reaching as far as Baltimore-Washington with its DC-10s. Despite a heart-felt following, the airline ceased to operate some years ago. It is now followed by Ghana International Airlines, with B757 service to Düsseldorf and London-Gatwick routes. Although this envelope was addressed to the Ghana Philatelic Agency on Wall Street in New York, the inaugural flight was almost surely to Heathrow Airport.

Air India:Bombay to Seychelles, 1976

Celebrating inaugural of Air India's June 1976 service from Bombay to Seychelles with a mermaid/kama sutra-in-seashell theme.

Swissair: Zurich-Philadelphia, August 1990

Like many aspects of Philadelphia's recent history, its airport's prominence as an international gateway has had its ups and downs. Today it has myriad options thanks to USAirways, which covers nearly 20 destinations non-stop, from Barcelona to Tel Aviv. Planespotters would have been disappointed by last year's switch of the CDG run from Air France to Delta, leaving British Airways and Lufthansa as the only European carriers to serve the enormous terminal at Philly. Swissair's service to Zürich did not last the airline's turbulent demise and rebirth as SWISS, although Koten Airport is still connected to PHL as one of USAirway's non-stops.

Royal Air Maroc: Timetable, Winter/Spring 2010

This might well be called, "How Not to Publish a Timetable." Its not clear why these cities have been proposed for indexing. Might a RAM passenger from Milan be slightly more likely to need to find the schedule to Tangier or Fes, as opposed to Malabo or Nouakchott? The section for Monrovia does not even mention that the routing passes through Banjul, currently the only westbound flight from Liberia. Casablanca is mentioned only by its CMH code as the connecting point. Marrakesh is nowhere. Perhaps RAM is really pushing the African routes, which are excellent (see posts from the previous week), but this timetable's exclusions miss a lot of that carrier's offerings.

Royal Air Maroc; The African Routes, 2009

Two delightful, low-tech leaflets from RAM's office in midtown Manhattan, showing the breadth and frequency of the carrier's sub-Saharan connections, via Casablanca. With so few weekly services to most cities in West and Central Africa, these provide viable options, especially as they by-pass European hubs, and therefore can save time.

British Caledonian: Gatwick-Banjul-Monrovia, April 1982

More of Banjul: this might not look particularly relevant, but this is in fact the dinner menu on the Gatwick-Banjul-Monrovia flight from the evening of 10 April 1982. With typical BCal thoroughness, the folder including routing and aircraft information; sadly this is particular paper is not part of Timetablist's core collection, so further elaboration is not available here. It does however stand as an important document proving two of Timetablist's favorite topics: the erstwhile prominence of Robertsfield among European carriers, and the last few posts' celebrations of the similarly past glory of Banjul's international connections.

Air Gambia: Gatwick-Banjul-Freetown, Winter 1973

Bathurst and Banjul did not only see foreign carriers in their time. Here is a document (pulled from the Corona typewriter, perhaps?) showing Air Gambia's winter schedule to Gatwick Airport and onward to Freetown. Must have been marginally popular then, but hardly like the air bridge that exists today of Thomas Cook package tourists who make their winter holiday on Gambia's gorgeous beaches, which make the tiny slice of West Africa a little tourism success story. Air Gambia used a B707, which somewhat shockingly was seen at Gatwick as late as October 1993, but it didn't last.

Pan Am: Miami to Africa, 1941

More history of the Cape Verde coast as global node. This particular envelope from December 6, 1941, celebrates Pan Am's first arrival in Bathurst, Gambia (today Banjul). More broadly, the deep, dynamic illustration shows a flying boat clipper which originates at Miami and reaches the equator via San Juan and Port of Spain, calling at Belem and Natal in Brazil, before crossing the ocean and reaching Bathurst. From there it appears to extend to Lagos and on to Leopoldville. As with the previous post, Dakar did not get the glory.