...Those AI and IA Busses were totally ragged out when I rode them 15 years ago! I can imagine how bad they are now.... BTW, who is paying the crews, where are they based, etc..... Bryant Petitt Cumming, GA --- Roger James <ejames@escape.ca> wrote: > Afghan airline makes a bumpy return > By Steven Komarow, USA TODAY > > > KABUL, Afghanistan =97 Check-in for Ariana Afghan > Airlines' newest flight,= > =20 > from Frankfurt, Germany, to this war-ravaged > capital, is surprisingly=20 > friendly and efficient. Lines move quickly, and an > English-speaking clerk=20 > gives clear directions to the gate. The 20-year-old > Airbus A-300 is worn=20 > inside but meets industry minimums. Generic > Hollywood music drifts down=20 > from the overhead speakers. Then the doors close, > and that German-like=20 > efficiency fades. One flight attendant can't figure > out how to don the=20 > demonstration life jacket. Another quietly tells two > nicotine-deprived=20 > patrons to cheat on the flight's smoking ban. "Go in > the back, away from=20 > the bathrooms and children, as if you're doing > nothing," he whispers. That= > =20 > Ariana falls short of making a good first impression > is no surprise. This=20 > new weekly service, begun Sept. 18, is Ariana's > first scheduled service to= > =20 > and from the West in three decades. It's the start > of Ariana's big push to= > =20 > become the airline of choice for Western business > fliers and vacationers=20 > traveling to Central Asia and the Indian > subcontinent. > > "We passed some very bad days because of the wars > and the U.N. sanctions,"= > =20 > says Feda Mohammad Fedawi, the chief of operations, > who has spent 40 years= > =20 > in Afghan aviation, including 17 with the airline. > Soon, he hopes, Ariana=20 > will reach across Europe to New York and a > partnership with an American=20 > airline. The question is premature. Ariana has only > three planes: the=20 > Airbus and a pair of even older Boeing 727s. Two > more Airbuses, donated by= > =20 > India, are scheduled to arrive in the next two > months. In its heyday in the= > =20 > 1970s, Ariana had 17 planes that flew to > destinations including Rome and=20 > Paris. Its customers included Europeans and > Americans seeking the allure,=20 > rug bargains, antiquities and, yes, hashish of > Afghanistan. Prior to the=20 > Soviet invasion of 1979, Ariana even had a DC-10 > jumbo jet, and Pan=20 > American airlines was a partner. But the Soviets > took over in 1979, the=20 > jumbo jet was sold and flights to the West were > scrapped. The state-owned=20 > airline slowly crumbled with the rest of > Afghanistan. Civil wars in the=20 > 1990s reduced Kabul's ancient market and other > tourist attractions to=20 > rubble. International flights ended during the > Taliban period when the=20 > country came under United Nations sanctions. > > By the time the U.S. Air Force finished its bombing > last November, only one= > =20 > mothballed 727 and an aged Russian-built propeller > plane were intact.=20 > Kabul's international airport was strewn with > wreckage and its runways=20 > pocked with craters. Today, Ariana is re-starting > "pretty much from=20 > scratch," says Fedawi. Though the fleet is tiny, > Ariana still needs=20 > international aid. India has lent pilots to > Afghanistan until the airline's= > =20 > own pilots can be taught and pass qualification > tests. Flight attendants=20 > are training in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and > elsewhere until the new=20 > training program in Kabul gets up to speed. Outside > airlines in Jordan and= > =20 > India are maintaining the jets. Peru has lent a team > of 25 technicians to=20 > make sure the planes get off the ground from Kabul. > Ariana intends to buy=20 > two used turboprops. The one Soviet-era AN-24 that > survived the war has=20 > been grounded as unsafe. But the long-term plan to > make Ariana a success is= > =20 > hardly airborne. ISAF, the international security > force in Kabul, has=20 > removed the land mines and provides security at > Kabul airport, but threats= > =20 > remain. In mid-October, the United Nations for three > days diverted its=20 > flights from Kabul airport to a U.S. air base > because of a terrorist=20 > warning. Quality fuel, trucked in from Pakistan, is > in short supply. The=20 > airport lacks modern navigation aids and often > electricity. A flight to=20 > Frankfurt two weeks ago was delayed three hours > because of a blackout.=20 > There is no business-class hotel at the airport or > anywhere else in=20 > Afghanistan. Western visitors usually stay at U.N. > guesthouses or at the=20 > Kabul Inter-Continental, a once-luxurious high-rise > that's now filthy and=20 > decrepit and has no relationship with the famous > hotel chain. > > The United Nations, which has been flying its own > planes into Kabul from=20 > Islamabad, Pakistan, could become a big Ariana > customer if talks now=20 > underway come to fruition. But attracting a broader > market will take time=20 > and improvements. Less than half the seats on the > 232-seat Airbus from=20 > Frankfurt in early October are filled. Tickets must > still be purchased with= > =20 > cash. You can't check through your luggage from > anyplace else. And the=20 > journey is, well, still a bit adventurous. > The bulk of the passengers appear to be prosperous > Afghan exiles on their=20 > way to visit the homeland. Their children play tag > for hours in the aisles,= > =20 > unimpeded by the cabin attendants, who are oblivious > to the fact that some= > =20 > passengers are trying to sleep on the overnight > journey. After a refueling= > =20 > stop in Istanbul, breakfast is served. The hot > aluminum trays are placed in= > =20 > passengers' bare hands, hardly a pleasant wake-up > call. Fortunately, the=20 > $705 for a round trip won't leave too many feeling > burned. > > The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: > Roj (Roger James) > *************************************************** > escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca > Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com > CBC Website > http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ > The Trinbago Site of the Week: > (I95.5FM) http://www.i955fm.com > (Radio Station I95.5FM) > courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory > Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com > TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt > ********************************************************* __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? HotJobs - Search new jobs daily now http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/