Africaone Breezes Into Nairobi
Sep 24, 2002
Karibuni Lounge at Entebbe Airport, usually reserved for travellers who are used to flying First Class and are names to be reckoned with, on Friday opened up their doors to a group of flyers who had probably never been inside.
By Timothy Bukumunhe
Karibuni Lounge at Entebbe Airport, usually reserved for travellers who are used to flying First Class and are names to be reckoned with, on Friday opened up their doors to a group of flyers who had probably never been inside. In that group were singer Red Banton, whose trade mark red plastic shell suit or was it nylon collided with the plush livery of the leather settees and raised an eyebrow or two from the management of the lounge. And it was also hard to quieten down the group of FM presenters, press men and television presenters who spend the best part of their working day screaming into microphones.
These were guests invited to be a part of the launch of AfricaOne’s DC9 maiden voyage to Nairobi, Kenya. Breakfast presenters, Banji of Sanyu FM and Alex Ndawula of Capital FM were invited as were the Kenyan expats - Njoroge Karanja of Sanyu FM, The Vision’s David Waweru and Capital FM’s John Mwalimu who all stormed the bar moments after settling in. Other guests included Showtime presenter, Marcus Kirwoya, QG Sattchi and Sattchi, Charles Onyango-Obbo and Wafula Oguttu.
The flight to Nairobi was uneventful and lasted just under an hour. However, those who were booked into first class were pampered with a welcome drink and hot towels to wipe off the dust their faces had accumulated on the drive down from Kampala to Entebbe. The rest of the masses at the rear of the craft were content to quaff down as much Castle beers as was possible during the one-hour flight.
We didn’t get to see anything of Nairobi save for what we saw on the drive from Jomo Kenyatta Airport to the Hilton Hotel for the schedule was extremely tight. Right from 3:00pm when we arrived at the hotel we sat down to no fewer 13 presentations or speeches, some which went on for an awful long time! Captain Joseph Roy was brief and to the point and earned mummers of approval from the guests.
The speeches eventually done with, a sumptuous buffet late lunch was laid before us as AfricaOne staff in their blue uniforms pampered anybody who had a Kenyan sounding name.
The flight back to Entebbe was livelier than the outward journey. Though Captain Roy was a passenger on the flight, it was obvious we wanted to take to the controls. As we queued up to board, he abandoned his luggage and gave the DC9 the once over - checking the tires and the underbelly. And no sooner had the aircraft taken off, he was up at the cockpit door in deep consultation with the Captain.
In first class, everyone took time to joke about The Monitor’s Wafula Oguttu who when asked where he would fly the plane to if he hijacked it said, “to Busia so that I can wave at my people.†He was undeterred when it was pointed out that Busia didn’t have an airport or an airfield.
Ends
Karibuni Lounge at Entebbe Airport, usually reserved for travellers who are used to flying First Class and are names to be reckoned with, on Friday opened up their doors to a group of flyers who had probably never been inside. In that group were singer Red Banton, whose trade mark red plastic shell suit or was it nylon collided with the plush livery of the leather settees and raised an eyebrow or two from the management of the lounge. And it was also hard to quieten down the group of FM presenters, press men and television presenters who spend the best part of their working day screaming into microphones.
These were guests invited to be a part of the launch of AfricaOne’s DC9 maiden voyage to Nairobi, Kenya. Breakfast presenters, Banji of Sanyu FM and Alex Ndawula of Capital FM were invited as were the Kenyan expats - Njoroge Karanja of Sanyu FM, The Vision’s David Waweru and Capital FM’s John Mwalimu who all stormed the bar moments after settling in. Other guests included Showtime presenter, Marcus Kirwoya, QG Sattchi and Sattchi, Charles Onyango-Obbo and Wafula Oguttu.
The flight to Nairobi was uneventful and lasted just under an hour. However, those who were booked into first class were pampered with a welcome drink and hot towels to wipe off the dust their faces had accumulated on the drive down from Kampala to Entebbe. The rest of the masses at the rear of the craft were content to quaff down as much Castle beers as was possible during the one-hour flight.
We didn’t get to see anything of Nairobi save for what we saw on the drive from Jomo Kenyatta Airport to the Hilton Hotel for the schedule was extremely tight. Right from 3:00pm when we arrived at the hotel we sat down to no fewer 13 presentations or speeches, some which went on for an awful long time! Captain Joseph Roy was brief and to the point and earned mummers of approval from the guests.
The speeches eventually done with, a sumptuous buffet late lunch was laid before us as AfricaOne staff in their blue uniforms pampered anybody who had a Kenyan sounding name.
The flight back to Entebbe was livelier than the outward journey. Though Captain Roy was a passenger on the flight, it was obvious we wanted to take to the controls. As we queued up to board, he abandoned his luggage and gave the DC9 the once over - checking the tires and the underbelly. And no sooner had the aircraft taken off, he was up at the cockpit door in deep consultation with the Captain.
In first class, everyone took time to joke about The Monitor’s Wafula Oguttu who when asked where he would fly the plane to if he hijacked it said, “to Busia so that I can wave at my people.†He was undeterred when it was pointed out that Busia didn’t have an airport or an airfield.
Ends