Originally Posted by
Toshbaf
Thank you. Some may speculate why this route no longer operates.
Markets change. Long-line low frequency routes like this, with multiple stops for a 747 just a couple of times a week, have pretty much disappeared. You either manage to do nonstop daily flights out from your hub, and straight back, or not at all. Lufthansa now do Bogota daily from Frankfurt on an A340-600, but not the other points. San Juan has always had very little attraction or commerce for Europe, just serving as a convenient refuelling place. Avianca has emerged as a major Transatlantic force, they do even Munich nonstop daily from Bogota, likewise to Barcelona, and no less than three daily nonstop flights to Madrid, which is now the principal hub for Latin America. Iberia also do this run daily with an A340-600 and pick up all the BA/OneWorld traffic from London, in a similar style to many other South American points. Even secondary Spanish carrier Air Europa have a daily nonstop B787 Madrid to Bogota. So the demand is still there and then some, but redistributed.
Quite a lot of the more exotic flower trade in Europe comes from equatorial South America ... NBO must be another KL destination that supports combis for this freight biz
Sad tale about this from a colleague in the office. He is a follower of large wildlife, and a keen photographer, and has long taken holidays in Africa with his photographs appearing in the relevant magazines for such enthusiasts. He says when he first went to Kenya a major focus was around Lake Naivasha, there's a game reserve but much was open country from where the game came down to the lake each evening to drink. As the flower growers have developed on an industrial scale, within his time of going there, substantial areas of lakeside have been fenced off and had glasshouses erected, and their favourite photo spots eliminated, more each year. Some pathways were left fot the animals, but as they are concentrated here they are progressively picked off by predators. The water extraction is progressively lowering the lake level.
Like most of the European flower industry (even in the UK) they are generally owned by the Dutch, and are cut daily, trucked to Nairobi, and shipped out by KLM and Kenya Airways to Amsterdam, in particular, and also by all-cargo carriers. There has always been a major airfreight market, both in the hold and all-cargo, from Europe to East Africa, especially to inland places like Nairobi, shipping and then rail/truck is very slow, gets much damage and is plagued by theft in transit. So everything of value is airfreighted. The return sectors used to run empty until the capacity was offered at marginal cost to northbound shippers, used to be none but the flower industry steadily developed. The Kenyan government encourages the investment, and there are numerous lower-paid jobs created, but the ownership and margin is in the Netherlands. The World Bank, who make loans for the flower growers, completely ignore this.
I believe the Dutch have plenty of water. They should be required to airfreight it in to Kenya for their own businesses...
https://www.google.com/maps/@-0.8329.../data=!3m1!1e3
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/K...ha_Cluster.pdf
Lake Naivasha used to be a landing for the Imperial Airways flying boats to Africa in the 1930s-40s, but they had just a landing area, netted to prevent hippos getting into conflict with the aircraft, and a small hotel.