The photographs and names  (on your website) brought back memories of the old place and of the long lost acquaintances. It unfortunately reminded me of my sad and misspent youth in Aden ; a hot, dusty, and a most miserable place.

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I remember the times I spent at the airport in Khormaksar looking at the gleaming and shiny Aden Airways aeroplanes and wondering if I would be able one day to fly one of these machines. So, I applied to Aden Airways (or BOAC as was) in Khormaksar requesting to be trained as a pilot but my requests and applications were flatly turned down.

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How I envied those Pilots flying the DC3's (or Dakotas) and the  Argonauts to Mukeiras, Asmara, Bahrain etc, etc. 

I remember when the brand new VC10's  and the huge V bombers used to come to RAF Khormaksar for hot weather trials.  These brand new war planes, looked huge when compared to the small Aden Airways DC3's or the RAF Hawker Hunters.  It was quite frustrating to be stuck on the ground when I was constantly looking at the stars.

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I could not understand why  Aden Airways turned my applications down. I was doing reasonably well at Aden College in Dar Sa'ad studying, among other subjects, English Language and Literature for GCE 'O' levels. I came from a respectable family, where almost all the male adults spoke English.

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The Aden Airways Pilots and Air hostesses looked smart in their crisp uniforms, and new cars. They had a privileged life, had their own private beach at Gold moor in Tawahi and lived in special quarters away from the local riff raffs.

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Aden Airways was run like a club, where only the selected and the well connected, mainly UK Citizens, managed to  find jobs. Of course, It was this exclusivity  which, I suppose, helped to  provide the reliable service to the hinterland and the excellent safety record.

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With the advent of the Federation of South Arabia, something called 'arabisation' started to happen, This meant that companies and businesses were encouraged to promote local nationals or 'watanis'  in order to take responsibility for running the country etc. after Britain handed power, in an orderly manner, to the Local Government.  

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The management of Aden Airways joined in. They employed  English speaking local women as air hostesses, educated Arabs as clerical staff as cleaners and tea makers. No effort was made, however, to recruit Pilots from the local community.

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I always wondered why this was so.  I thought perhaps this had something to do with the troubles in the borders between the Colony of Aden and Republican Yemen or  even the security problems the British forces were having with the left wing nationalists. One must not forget that Aden Airways was in reality British Overseas Airways Corporation in disguise.

By the time the first local national was sent to the UK to be trained as a Pilot (around 1967) it was too late and the whole colonial edifice collapsed. 

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But all that was in the past and over thirty years ago.  Aden Airways aeroplanes flew me in safety to Mukeiras, Mukalla and other places. If it  still operates its services, then my best wishes go to  the management and  Staff. If not, then it was an experience not to be missed.  ~ Story from Mr. Mahboob Sattar