Iron Maiden frontman and chairman of Cardiff Aviation Bruce Dickinson says that air freight is important to Djibouti and the plan is to have a freighter operation under Air Djibouti, the national flag carrier of the Republic of Djibouti.

“The plan, in the near future, is to take a 737 freighter down there (Djibouti) to redistribute goods that come into the Djibouti sea port to countries around in Africa and the Middle East,” said Dickinson in an exclusive interview to Logistics Update Africa. “The key now is to rationalize the whole set up to target the real growth areas. Obviously freight is important,” he added.

Dickinson, an aviation entrepreneur and a pilot, who has years of experience flying in West Africa, is well aware of the great potential Djibouti has because of its geographical position. “Because of its proximity to the global sea trade route we have a crazy situation where aircraft from the UAE are flying into Djibouti empty and taking goods back to the UAE or taking them onwards to Africa. Well, that is very nice for UAE, Djibouti should be doing that,” he argues.

“It would be fantastic if we could get a freighter operation up and running. But the limitation on the freighter operation is actually not the operation of the aircraft; the limitation is of the infrastructure around the airport itself,” he explained.

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On October 19th, HarperNonFiction are publishing What Does This Button Do?, the hugely anticipated memoir from Iron Maiden frontman and rock legend, Bruce Dickinson.

Just announced - What Does This Button Do? – A Conversation with Bruce Dickinson.

Hear Bruce read from his forthcoming autobiography, talk about the experience of writing it (and no doubt many other things) and answer questions from the audience. Confirmed UK dates are as listed:

October
17 - Troxy - London, England (7:30pm)
20 - Assembly Rooms - Edinburgh, Scotland (7pm)
22 - The Lowry - Manchester, England (2pm)

Tickets cost £30 - which includes a pre-signed hardback copy of What Does This Button Do? and a Trooper beer (or a soft drink). Tickets go on sale to the public on Friday September 1st at 9am via Ticketmaster.co.uk.

Heavy metal pioneers since their formation in 1975, Iron Maiden have sold over 90 million albums and played over 2000 shows in 63 countries, making them one of the most successful and globally influential bands of all time. One of the world’s most storied musicians, Bruce Dickinson has been the band’s internationally-acclaimed lead singer for more than 30 years, and quite aside from the decades spent delivering high-octane performances with his larger-than-life persona, Bruce has lived an extraordinary off-stage existence too. A true polymath, Bruce is, or has been, an airline pilot and captain, an aviation entrepreneur, a beer brewer, motivational speaker, film scriptwriter, twice-published novelist, radio presenter, TV actor and a world-class fencer.

Over the last couple of years, and throughout Iron Maiden’s The Book Of Souls World Tour, which has covered 39 countries and 117 shows since February 2016, Bruce has turned his unbridled creativity to writing his memoirs, longhand (in seven A4 notebooks no less).

In What Does This Button Do?, Bruce (a man who famously never gives interviews about his personal life) shares, for the first time, the most fascinating recollections, including his thirty years with Maiden, the early days, his childhood within the eccentric British school system, going solo, realising his dream of flying jumbo jets and his recent battle with tongue cancer. Bruce Dickinson is so much more than the frontman of one of the biggest bands on the planet. A rock icon, a true renaissance man, Bruce has been, and remains, a man of legend.

Bold, honest, intelligent and very entertaining, What Does This Button Do? is the long-awaited window into the life, heart and mind of one of our most adventurous and multifaceted sons. The global publication on October 19th will be accompanied with a commensurate international book tour. More details to come soon.

The first print-run of the UK hardback will have black sprayed-edges and will be available to pre-order ahead of publication. First pre-order options available here. An Amazon widget for the North American edition can be found below.