By Takura Zhangazha*
Travelling by airplane across borders on the African
continent is an interesting experience. It
is always an encounter with what we have always been politicized with as Pan
Africanism, even if it is no longer as ideological or identity driven. Especially if it’s that typical flight that
leaves one capital for another before it arrives at a major air transport hub
such as Addis Ababa, Johannesburg or Nairobi.
And I will confess to a feeling of pride every time I hear pilots announce
an approach to OR Tambo or Jomo Kenyatta international airports.
Sometimes, circumstances such as airline inefficiency or bad
weather prolong the encounter with fellow African travelers. These delays, postponements or cancellations
make being an African in transit in an African country the more interesting. Travelers are compelled to talk to each other. Be it about final destinations, professional interests,
family or complaining about the landing
or the take-off. Or even to try and find alternative routes, solutions or make
the culprit airline pay by threatening to sue them or how such a thing would
never happen in a persons country of origin.
Their reasons for being on a flight will however differ in interesting
ways. A couple of decades back, flying
was perceived by many an Africa as a status symbol. By way of class, prestige or seeking to be as
‘modern’ as our human colleagues in the Global North.
These days, and probably into the future, being a frequent
flyer is no longer seen as evidence of sophistry let alone as a sign of
wealth. Not only because there are more
airline companies that are (exorbitantly for now) seeking out the African
market but because of that oxymoronic term ‘globalisation’. This is not to say that flying is affordable
let alone availed for a majority of Africans.
Far from it. But it is increasingly
something that more and more Africans across class and social status can claim
to know at least one of their close family members has experienced at least once.
As Africans, we fly across our national borders mainly for
business and trade. And this is not only
for corporate business. Any flight you
take and if you are in economy class, the majority of Africans on board will be
doing so to go to either South Africa, China or Dubai to transact in buying goods
(clothing, cloned technological gadgets, cars) to sell back home.
Other African passengers are also Diasporans going back to
former colonial capitals where they have ‘made it’. In tandem with their children who have
citizenship of the countries of destination, these Diasporans save a lot of
money to make these travel and travail arrangements. Hence their trips are not always frequent but
when they do happen, they help demystify flying significantly. If its not them travelling it is their relatives
(parents/brothers/sisters/aunts) who are paying them a long planned (and
expensive) visit.
And our African airlines know this. Hence their priority has never been
inter-Africa flight for its own sake. It
is always the more lucrative cross continental flight that they prioritise in a
manner that not only reinforces the Global North as the ‘promised land’ but
also undermines the pursuit of positioning African lives as normal.
It is an astounding reality that African passengers in
Africa are not necessarily treated with as much respect as African travelers travelling
to the global North or even the far east.
The courtesy and professionalism of airlines and their staff is markedly different between a trip to Abuja and a trip to London.
The derision with which airlines treat a threat to sue after
a delayed flight between two African destinations and the seriousness they
imbue a similar threat for a flight in for example North America is not only sad but dehumanizing to the African traveler.
Africans want to fly. The only problem that because of the complicity
of the airlines, flying is still considered the exception rather than the
rule. That is why it remains so
expensive and why airlines (state owned/commercialized or private) tend to
treat the African flyer as second class passengers. The more professional flights
are those to the global north. Not those
between African countries. It is a throwback
to colonial times that a flight from Harare to Lusaka can be casually delayed
and passengers forced to stay overnight without due explanation and diligence. That would not happen on a flight from Berlin
to Paris with such nonchalance.
*Takura Zhangazha writes here in his personal capacity
(takura-zhangazha.blogspot.com)
