Transport aérien en République Démocratique du Congo, 2007
With only 300 miles of paved roads, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (a country roughly the size of Western Europe) is dependent on its aircraft, regardless of the planes’ safety records or sturdiness. A charter outfit called Business Aviation has become crucial to the delicate economy. Herewith, some images of the D.R.C.’s fearless fliers and their aircraft.
This is where planes land at the end of their lives: two wings, suffering engines and a handle that holds up as best as it can… cuckoo clocks that would only find their place on the black lists of Western aviation security agencies.
The charter company Business Aviation, which now plays a major role in transporting men and equipment from Kinshasa to the country’s borders, has an outdated fleet, the most beautiful of which is a Nord 262 manufactured in France in the late 1960s.
In a country where it takes a week to travel the 500 kilometres of National Road No. 1 from Kikwit to the capital, an aircraft, however unsafe it may be, is a real commercial asset.
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