These days going home from his university job in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, means 45 minutes on a plane for Walther Onyango. Getting to the lakeside city of Kisumu used to require a bone-shaking eight-hour bus ride for the engineering professor. Now he pops back for the weekend. He says the bus is for "people who have nothing to do" and that when you factor in time, it is cheaper to fly. A one-way bus ticket is $15, but the arrival of Fly540, a budget airline, means he can fly for $110. Previously tickets with the state carrier, Kenya Airways, were nearer $200. On a crowded Friday morning flight there are lawyers in suits, a big-hatted wedding party and mourners on a day trip to a funeral. The return flight in the afternoon is popular with tax collectors. Until recently many of them would have rattled along the potholed highway.
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