Bringing Home the Bear Part II
I had tried to get permission to land in Syria, Iraq and Iran. I was keen to retrace the trip fully, and Damascus, Baghdad and Bandar Abbas were ancient cities I’d long wanted to visit. However, flight clearances for these three countries were available only through diplomatic channels, and I didn’t even waste their time asking. In the end, once a drone got shot out of the sky in Iran, I figured it might not be the best time to pop in anyway …
An early departure from Haifa sent me past Syria, Iraq with an overnight tech stop in Bahrain, then over Dubai and along the edge of Iranian airspace for most of the day before picking up the Vickers Vimy route again in Pakistan, for a quick overnight stop then on to wonderful India.
Delhi
I landed in Delhi late afternoon, then got to know the dozen or so staff who came to greet the plane and have their photos taken while we waited a couple of hours for fuel. It was intriguing place to be parked, with more private jets than I’d ever seen. It was then explained to me: these are the jets, the big private jets are on the other side. It made sense – India is a big country with many large companies dominating nation-wide in an enormous economy. With so many city centres it would be a great way to get a
