Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden Has a New Job Doing…What?

All Maiden fans know that singer Bruce Dickinson is an experienced commercial airline pilot working as a captain for various companies flying 757s. When Maiden tours, the band leases an aircraft they dub Ed Force One–and guess who flies it from gig to gig?

Bruce also has an aviation company on the side based out of Wales. Cardiff Aviation is a service and maintenance facility that looks after the aircraft of various clients.

The newest client is Air Djibouti, the fledgling national carrier of that African nation. From Blabbermouth:

Cardiff Aviation, a large service and maintenance facility in St. Athan, Wales, United Kingdom whose chairman is IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson, has signed a Memorandum Of Understanding with Air Djibouti to create and implement a national carrier for the East African nation of Djibouti.

Air Djibouti appointed Cardiff Aviation following a study which identified key markets for the national carrier based on the needs of landlocked neighbouring countries, governmental aid programmes around Africa, the support of military installations currently based in Djibouti, and the need to deliver passengers to major international business hubs such as London and Dubai.

Under the terms of the Memorandum Of Understanding, Cardiff Aviation will implement and manage a European-level AOC for Air Djibouti, source aircraft, and provide world-class operational management for the new African national carrier.

Wild, no? Read more here. (Via Tom)