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Dos and don’ts in a ‘war zone’ airport

Friday October 20 2017
JIA

The Juba International Airport is more like a makeshift landing strip with a long runway. PHOTO FILE | NATION

By NJIRAINI MUCHIRA

Flying into a country that is basically a war zone has two effects on most people.

The first is the adrenaline rush caused by the anticipation of a chance to experience first hand what a war situation entails. The second is fear of the unknown, because at the back of your mind is the “what if” situation of getting caught in a crossfire.

In this region, Somalia and South Sudan are basically war zones. Anyone flying into Mogadishu or Juba will certainly experience the two emotions.

Not many commercial airlines operate scheduled flights to the Juba International Airport (JIA), and the few that do, operate more like public service vehicles. They land at JIA, drop and pick up passengers and within an hour they take off.

The unspoken rule here is that they are safer in the air than on the airport tarmac because the airport does not meet any international standards of safety.

JIA is basically an open field with a runway and no security. Only military helicopters and cargo planes delivering military hardware and relief food spend more than an hour on the tarmac at the airport.

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No airline operates night flights because the probability of a power blackout is very high and the runway lights are powered by generators. And there is never enough fuel to power the generators.

So what do you do when flying into such an airport?

First, JIA has no terminal. Construction of the first terminal building started in 2012 but stalled after violence broke out in 2013, while the second one has stalled because the government is facing a serious cash crunch because it is not getting enough revenue from oil.

With no terminal, arriving passengers are directed to a makeshift tented area. Here, both arriving and departing passengers mingle freely, in breach of all international safety rules of air travel.

Inside the tents, one may be forgiven for thinking they are in an open air market. The situation is worse on rainy days. It gets so humid, breathing becomes a problem for those not used to this type of weather.

Here, it is impossible to distinguish airport staff and security personnel, from taxi drivers, porters, hawkers, thieves and other hangers-ons idling around the airport with who knows what.

A few of the people have badges and only they know whom they represent.

Also, a few individuals have reflector flak jackets, while heavily armed army and police officers stroll about, a clear reminder that this is not an ordinary airport. This is a war zone, and a gun fight is just a trigger away.

So be careful how and whom you talk to here. Nothing is guaranteed.

Adjacent to the tents are two freight containers donated by the Japanese government and that have been converted into passport control stations.

Here you will find airport staff, military personnel and police officers.

Arriving passengers must present their passports here for verification and stamping to be allowed to enter South Sudan. Those without visas must also acquire them at a cost of $50 each.

More importantly, arriving passengers must produce Yellow Fever certificates but those without can easily bribe their way and have the passport stamped.

Second, when going to South Sudan, it is advisable to travel light.

The experience of those travelling with a lot of luggage is stressful to say the least.

The luggage is brought by pick-up trucks to the tents that pass for “terminals” and passengers are made to identify their luggage before ownership is verified using the airline sticker.

The owner of the luggage is then made to open it, and someone passing as an airport security official goes ahead to ransack it, in full view of other passengers, in a manner suggesting that he gives little value or respect to the contents of the luggage or its owner.

Satisfied that there are is no contraband, which basically means weapons, the official marks the luggage using chalk with a sign that only the airport officials understand.

Only then is one allowed into South Sudan, a country that foreigners want out of as soon as they pass through the makeshift gate that signals you are now in the world’s youngest democracy but also the one where violence reigns supreme.

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