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
26JUN25 2004Z HKWJ HKJK F_G_97 Boeing 737-800 (B738) -176 ft/m 381 nm 01:08 View
26JUN25 1945Z HKWJ HKJK NG-94 Airbus A321 (A321) -210 ft/m 291 nm 00:45 View
06APR25 1932Z HKWJ HKJK ZandPilooT Airbus A320 neo (A20N) -499 ft/m 327 nm 00:55 View
20MAR25 0353Z HKWJ HKJK J_Thananrat Airbus A350-900 (A359) -399 ft/m 297 nm 00:51 View
19MAR25 1508Z HKWJ HKJK Krupke77 Airbus A340-300 (A343) -265 ft/m 300 nm 00:47 View
25FEB25 2310Z HKWJ HKJK Icarusgr Airbus A321 (A321) -336 ft/m 298 nm 00:46 View
27JAN25 2206Z HCMM HKWJ Nexus 15 Airbus A320 (A320) 0 ft/m 351 nm 00:54 View
23JAN25 1111Z OMDB HCMI PAPA974 Boeing 777-200LR/F (B77L) -318 ft/m 1162 nm 02:33 View
18JAN25 1007Z HKWJ HKJK GrandPa1965 British Aerospace BAe-146-200 (B462) -300 ft/m 301 nm 00:54 View
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