article: Nestled between Somalia and Eritrea at the entrance to the Red Sea, the hot and arid country seldom features on lists of global tour dates. Yet there is one multimillionaire rock star who recently flew into town - Bruce Dickinson, the lead singer of heavy metal elder statesmen Iron Maiden. Instead of performing a concert the 56-year-old was in Djibouti because of his other job - as owner of an airline business. A qualified pilot, Mr Dickinson has spent the past 16 years juggling his commitments on stage and in the recording studio, with a second career flying commercial planes; in 2012 he set up a company called Cardiff Aviation. Based in south Wales, the business provides maintenance, training and operational support to a host of airlines. The visit to Djibouti saw Mr Dickinson sign an agreement with the country's government to help re-launch the nation's former flag carrier - Air Djibouti. The airline went into liquidation back in 2002 after years of mismanagement and overstaffing. Air Djibouti is now set to take to the skies again later this year, with Cardiff Aviation sourcing the aircraft and helping to run the operation. Mr Dickinson says he hopes that the re-launched carrier will help increase awareness of the African nation. "Djibouti is an amazing country, but many people do not know about it," he says. "A national airline has an ambassadorial role wherever it flies from." The relaunch of Air Djibouti comes as the country's economy is continuing to enjoy significant investment from China. Chinese firms are spending $12bn (Â£7.6bn) to build no less than six new ports in the country, a railway line to land-locked neighbour Ethiopia, and two new airports. The Chinese government is also said to be planning to build a military base in Djibouti. A former French colony, the country is already also home to large French and US military facilities. The overseas interest in Djibouti is thanks in no small part to its strategic location in the Horn of Africa, at the entrance to the Red Sea, one of the world's busiest shipping lines. The development of new airports is obviously particularly good news for Air Djibouti, especially because commercial flights in and out of the country currently have to use a cramped airport shared with the US military. It is also hoped that Air Djibouti will benefit from wider efforts by the government to position the country, which has a population of only 810,000, as a low tax, international trade centre to rival Dubai. Mr Dickinson, whose trip to Djibouti was part of a trade visit organised by the British Embassy in Ethiopia, says: "The aviation sector is crucial [for Djibouti], it is like imagining Dubai without Emirates. So if they want Djibouti to become an international trade hub it needs a [thriving] national airline." The Djibouti government is however, not without its critics. Despite a stable political system, and holding elections, politics has long been dominated by the ruling People's Rally for Progress party of President Ismael Omar Guelleh. This has led to opposition parties both
summary: For the world's biggest rock bands the small East African nation of Djibouti doesn't usually appear on their itineraries.