Pan Am: The African Routes, 1967

Pan American's African branch was never too thick. However, throughout its history, the airline flew to several dozen African cities. This map, with its two reaches from West Africa to East Africa and Southern Africa, shows the most common Pan Am run across the continent. Part of a handsome, corporate-production route atlas of the kind unknown today.

Swissair: Zurich-Kinshasa, 1973

Swissair always had extensive routes across Africa. This envelope, although certainly commemorative, does not indicate whether this date was particularly important for the route to Zaïre, which is helpfully outlined on the map.

Swissair/Air Afrique: Geneva-Monrovia, 1977

This is a somewhat confusing envelope. Is Air Afrique or Swissair metal doing the work? This is 1977, 12 years after yesterday's inaugural flight. The printing is at least specific when it comes to the aircraft: a DC-10-30 (which was in both airlines' fleets) is announced at top and glides across the page.

Swissair: Zurich-Monrovia, 1965

There are absolutely no giraffes in Liberia, nor were there in 1965, but that did not deter the Swiss from celebrating the first flight to Monrovia with a Serengeti scene. No information on routing or aircraft. The purple architectural stamp at center may depict the post office in Monrovia, which still stands.

USAirways to Europe: 2007

Another example of the tremendous expansion overseas by USAirways in the last ten years, showing the full, extent of transatlantic services from Stockholm to Tel Aviv-- a total of 17 non-stops from Philadelphia. It is somewhat amazing to consider that this sudden supply of seats to Brussels, Athens, and Barcelona met with equal demand, but thus far the routes remain in operation.

USAirways: Ft. Lauderdale Hub, 2004

USAirways established a Caribbean basin hub in the middle of the last decade, but apparently it didn't last. Sort of a shame, and a bit unexpected in that USAirways, like other legacy carriers, has been looking to international traffic for revenue growth recently, evident in USAirway's services from Belize to Rio from its Charlotte hub, which much offer more traffic and profits.

KLM: Amsterdam-Paramaraibo

Both KLM and Surinam Airways fly this route today a few times per week-- its hard to believe that enough people need to get between the two points, but such is the state of affairs in post-colonial aviation. Surinam Airways recently switched from a B747-300 to an Airbus A340, leased from Air France.

British Airways: London-Salisbury (Harare)

To compliment yesterday's post is this envelope from the same period, half-illustrated with a B747 in early BA livery, on its way to Harare (via Nairobi), which was still called Salisbury until 1982. Note the captain's names listed at below-left.

Air Zimbabwe: London Gatwick-Salisbury (Harare)

In time for independence, is this rather business-like flight cover from a nascent Air Zimbabwe, which apparently was so new it hadn't settled on its Great Zimbabwe eagle emblem, yet, although the italicized Air Zimbabwe remains to this day. The country itself was so new, the capital hasn't been rechristened Harare. A B707 made the run to Gatwick, which in later years would be a B767.

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.