Iron Maiden Frontman Has Interesting New Gig

Djibouti hasn't seen passenger flights in more than a decade—until Thursday, when the lead singer of Iron Maiden flew the first Air Djibouti passenger flight into the small African nation since 2002. In addition to being a heavy metal rocker, Bruce Dickinson is also a pilot and the owner of the company that will manage Air Djibouti, the Guardian reports. The airline shut down 14 years ago and partially relaunched last year, but only with cargo service.

Air Transport World reports that Djibouti "has major ambitions to become the region’s logistics hub and is pouring $15 billion into two new airports, a seaport, and railways." Notes Dickinson, per the American Journal of Transportation, "The arrival of the first aircraft comes at a particularly exciting time for the region as Djibouti leads in spearheading the growth of aviation in East Africa." (More Dijibouti stories.)