The Meskel Square – Bole Airport Road, officially named Africa Avenue, which is no more than 4.3km long and 40m wide, is probably the first of its kind our capital city has ever seen. Not only is it the most expensive piece of construction work, but also it is state-of-the-art. It could go a long way in serving as an image-building venture in the eyes of visiting heads of states and tourists alike, given favourable weather. I added the last phrase advisedly.
The first week of July was windy in Addis Abeba and its surrounding areas. For travellers who had plans to travel abroad, it was a bit scary. Under normal circumstances, windy weather is prone to creating terrifying turbulence accompanied by a shaky and uncomfortable flight. As if to aggravate this feeling of fear further, there was the news of an incident at Heathrow International Airport, United Kingdom, with an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing-787 Dreamliner covered with smoke whilst parked. This time, the fault had nothing to do with the battery system, as had been earlier reported.
On July 18th 2013, at midnight, flight number 704 operated by Ethiopian was living up to its motto of “flying great lengths to please”. After flying with several carriers for many years, I had always applauded the takeoffs and landing skills of Ethiopian pilots and for good reason too. All those years, however, were rich in shaky moments of turbulence, every time of which captains instructed us to fasten our seat belts.
That evening, passengers were told to report at around 8 o’clock for check-in. A four hour interval between check-in and departure times was thought to be too long an interval to wait languishing at the Airport. But, I had to leave matters to the Airport management, since they know what is good for their customers.
On arrival, I was astonished to find the assigned receptionist humble and unusually willing to help, making me believe that they are indeed conducting such work for money. As throngs of travellers came in, one of the receptionists walked around calling “Washington DC”.
Travellers going to Washington DC were called forward to the ticket desk. But, silence reigned soon. The system was reported as “down”- whatever that meant.
The phrase quickly moved around from mouth to mouth, as if it was a routine phrase. It simply meant that the computers had frozen for some reason beyond my comprehension. More time to spend.
The receptionist offered chairs to elderly travellers. Frustration began to run high as nothing seemed to be happening.
Some passengers began walking around, in a bid to do something with their time. We had to wait for quite a while before the digital signs and screen indicators lit up. The desk machinery began buzzing and people felt relieved, at least for the moment. Nobody could be certain if the system would not “go down” again.
Travellers to the Middle East were very few in number. Perhaps the Saudi Arabian government’s decision not to give visas to Ethiopian job-seeking maids was responsible. Travellers to Washington DC had already boarded their plane earlier on. Travellers to Paris and Brussels had made it through before 9 o’clock local time, prior to the system ceasing to function.
The next stop was upstairs, where all passengers wanting to go their own different directions had to sit and wait. Some had already fallen fast asleep on the coaches. Others were toasting “bon voyage” at the bar. People with a phobia of flying might have seized that opportunity to gulp down a few shots of whisky and gain some psychological strength.
Many youngsters, apparently from other African countries, had their earphones on their heads and were displaying long faces, perhaps being carried away by what they were listening to.
Then came a woman standing on high-heel shoes, wearing a gaudy coloured mini-skirt and carrying a leather hand bag the size of which would be large enough to carry a healthy-sized lamb. She also had a back-pack unbecoming of her size and physical stature. She was such a tall woman that I wondered how she would be seated within the available accommodation, other than in business class.
Then the announcer switched the loud speaker on and mumbled something inaudible. But, those who had heard the announcement lined up, soon followed by others. The line was winding and moving at a snail’s pace. But that did not deter passengers from getting into the plane one by one and taking their seats. Every passenger was greeted by members of the cabin crew.
For some obscure reasons, silence reigned on board the aircraft. It was 11:55pm when the big bird took off and soon enough almost every passenger had fallen asleep. About two hours later dinner was served.
A hot meal, comprising mainly of chicken, and fish as an alternative for those who were fasting, accompanied by a small bottle of wine or various types of juices, was a lifesaver at the time. That small bottle of wine was an extra I had never had before.
But, it was the comfort of the flight itself that was excellent. Unlike other times, there was not the slightest vibration that often comes by way of turbulence high up in the air, for the whole stretch of a seven hour flight to Paris.
At Paris International Airport, the huge Boeing 767 aircraft waved the majority of travellers off. Only a few passengers remained seated for the hour and 35 minute flight that took us to Brussels. That morning was bright and warm. It was almost a prelude to the hot days that followed during our stay in Brussels.
All the take-offs were unnoticeable. The landing, which is normally a fight against the Earth’s force of gravity, was like skating downhill on a snowy landscape. I was eager to know who the captain was, as names would explain queries. I was told then that he was an expatriate.
Talking of names, I read a recent article by Mesfin Woldemariam (Prof.) about libelling government names and the syllogism structured in the bylaws to label name calling a serious offence. The parody implied in an attempt to protect names that are not worth protecting is well taken.
Thank you Prof. Mesfin, I am happy to witness TMS fruit is still kicking strong!
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