From Cape to Cairo: British Airways (BA1890) Boeing B77W Cape Town-Cairo (What If Route)

At the height of the British Empire, there was the desire to connect all the British colonies in Africa by rail. The construction of this transcontinental railway was handed over to Cecil Rhodes, whose mission was to connect Cape Town (then Cape Colony) in South Africa, to Cairo in Egypt.

Though started in 1890, after the death of Rhodes in 1896 and the constant state of turmoil of the world between 1914 and 1945, coupled with the African independency movements and resulting infights, meant this transcontinental railway was never finished, with only a handful section working to this day.

I first came across the story of this railway when I was playing Railroad Tycoon 2, and got hooked by the idea of connecting such distant cities while hauling pax and mail between them.

This is where real life ends.

Let’s pretend for a moment that British Airways desires to connect both Cape Town and Cairo. Flight number is BA1890, and it’s served in the B77W. This transcontinental flight lasts 10hs from pushback to taxi in, from South Africa to North Africa. Flights are daily due to the high demand from passengers of a quick and direct link between two of Africa’s most important cities, and once the aircraft is cleaned, refuelled and loaded at its destination, the journey begins anew.

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