Flight from Arba Minch to Addis Ababa (see map 11). Check in time: 8:30. Actually, nothing happens before 10:30. Take off at 12:30. Everyone has to be kept waiting at the airport, so that the airline remains flexible:
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If the weather permits, the plane first goes to Jinka;
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If there are many passengers there who want to fly from Arba Minch to Addis, they are collected on the way back from Jinka;
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If there are only a few passengers to Addis, and not so many to Jinka, those going to Addis are taken first to Jinka and then straight to Addis, without the plane landing in Arba Minch again.
It is raining in Jinka and visibility conditions do not permit a landing there. Jinka is completely cut off, as the road is interrupted anyhow. The reason for our delay is not the flight to Jinka, but the time it takes to decide not to go there.
Natnael, Tadesse’s ZS (sister’s son), comes along to the airport. On the way we pick up an Arbore girl who has been selected for a special school for people from remote minorities. She might be a future EPRDF cadre.