Multi achievement

The African Express Milk Run

Official achievement authored by Bobby Allen.

African Express is a Kenyan airline based out of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi of whom specialise in providing air transport in and out of many destinations in and around Somalia.

African Express have been operating a very interesting "milk run" route from Dubai to Nairobi via Berbera, Mogadishu and Wajir for many years.

African Express operate a total of five pretty old and rustic aircraft (some of which are over 45 years old) these being:

  • 2x MD-82
  • 2x DC-9-32
  • 1x Bombardier CRJ200LR

As a passenger (an aviation enthusiast perhaps) wanting to fly the full milk run route, you'll find that obtaining an African Express ticket for the entire route will be a challenge as travel agents will only sell ticket to Berbera or Mogadishu mainly due to the fact that not many "sensible" passengers would generally fly the multi-stop flight through Somalia to Nairobi.

....so before we "take off" on the first leg of this achievement, here are a few interesting facts about some of these airports that we'll be stopping at along the way...

  • Berbera airport (HCMI) has a 4,140m (13,582ft) runway, one of the longest in Africa! The runway was actually built by the Soviet Union (USSR) in the 1970s in order to counter the United States' military presence in the region. It was later rented out to NASA at a cost of $40 million USD per year and was used as an emergency landing site for NASA Space Shuttles between 1980 and 1991.
  • Pilots landing at Mogadishu (HCMM) prefer to approach from the sea (despite wind conditions) in order to avoid any risk of anti-aircraft gun fire (on the edge of your seat kind of stuff, hey!!)
  • The stop at Wajir (HKWJ) is required for Kenyan authorities to clear all passengers arriving from Somalia, and it is at this point that all baggage will be screened and arriving formalities will be carried out before reaching Nairobi!

Criteria

In order to obtain this multi-achievement you must complete each of the following achievements.

Date Departure Arrival Pilot Aircraft Landing rate Distance Flight time
12DEC24 1539Z HKWJ HKJK Roger Abram Piper PA-24 Comanche (PA24) -220 ft/m 264 nm 02:24 View
29NOV24 2258Z HKWJ HKJK Nexus 03 Embraer Phenom 100 (E50P) -82 ft/m 264 nm 00:40 View
23NOV24 1005Z HKWJ HKJK Scotty Clifford Boeing 737-800 (B738) -38 ft/m 293 nm 00:52 View
30SEP24 1907Z HKWJ HKJK JuanKapilot57 Cessna 700 Citation Longitude (C700) -201 ft/m 350 nm 00:51 View
18AUG24 2119Z HKWJ HKJK VAF273 Giacomo Boeing 737-700 (B737) -88 ft/m 339 nm 00:56 View
14AUG24 1234Z HCMM HKWJ Nexus 19 Boeing 737-800 (B738) -89 ft/m 402 nm 01:02 View
30JUL24 1719Z HKWJ HKJK Aaron Priest Learjet 35 (LJ35) -518 ft/m 325 nm 00:50 View
25JUL24 1215Z HKWJ HKJK Ernest Maillet De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter (DHC6) -214 ft/m 266 nm 01:36 View
11JUL24 1637Z HCMM HKWJ Seasharks Embraer Phenom 100 (E50P) -62 ft/m 448 nm 01:28 View
03JUL24 1808Z HKWJ HKJK Unknown Boeing 747-200 (B742) -625 ft/m 266 nm 00:46 View
02JUL24 0931Z OMDB HCMI Niels1501 Socata TBM-9X0 (TBM9) -123 ft/m 1108 nm 03:33 View
25JUN24 1306Z HKWJ HKJK Blanche Beechcraft Super King Air 350 (B350) -73 ft/m 265 nm 01:16 View
01MAY24 0836Z HKWJ HKJK VAF125 Antonino Boeing 737-800 (B738) -195 ft/m 268 nm 00:42 View
24APR24 1542Z HKWJ HKJK Fly By Mike Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor (F22) -255 ft/m 269 nm 00:26 View
08APR24 0332Z HKWJ HKJK Joseph Thornton Airbus A320 (A320) -201 ft/m 332 nm 00:55 View
04MAR24 0630Z HKWJ HKJK Hudson Garcia Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning 2 (F35) -98 ft/m 297 nm 00:30 View
28FEB24 1852Z HKWJ HKJK VAF197 Giampiero Boeing 737-800 (B738) -122 ft/m 294 nm 00:44 View
27FEB24 2213Z HKWJ HKJK Daiki Decimus ATR ATR-72-600 (AT76) -150 ft/m 299 nm 00:49 View
12FEB24 0846Z HKWJ HKJK VAF121 Marco Socata TBM-850 (TBM8) -143 ft/m 348 nm 01:22 View
12FEB24 0007Z HKWJ HKJK Mark Gee Cessna 525C Citation CJ4 (C25C) -68 ft/m 263 nm 00:41 View