SIMON MURDOCH
Southend Airport welcomed an exotic visitor on August 10. This de Havilland Canada Dash 8-400, which still sported its previous registration C-FSRY (c/n 4174) – later becoming 5N-CAC – is the first example for Nigeria-based start-up, UmzaXpress. The turboprop’s brief stop at the Essex facility was part of a marathon delivery flight originating in St Thomas, Canada, via stops at Goose Bay and Reykjavik, Iceland. After departing Southend, it was understood to have flown via Algiers to Abuja, Nigeria. The 2007-built airframe previously flew with Denver, Colorado-based Frontier Airlines, before joining Air Canada Express