"Do you know about our first class service to and from Europe?"

Ariana Airlines advertisement in Kabul Times, May 4th, 1970 issue.

By 1975, Bakhtar Airlines had flights to the following airports: Bamyan, Chaghcharan, Darwaz, Faryzabad, Herat, Kabul, Kunduz, Khawahan, Maymana, Mazar-I-Sharif, and Sheghnan. Bakhtar merged with Ariana Airlines in ~1988 #Afghanistan

Domestic flights started to key Afghan cities as early as 1957 when airports were starting to be built.

By 1970s, Ariana Airlines' domestic flights were overtaken by Afghanistan's Bakhtar Airways. #Afghanistan

May 1970: "The Afghan Tourist Department expects 90,000 tourists will visit Afghanistan this year. This will be an increase of 27,000 from last year, according to a recent interview by Abdul Wahab Tarzi, the president of the tourist department..."

One of the many tunnels leads out to the Helmand River, #Afghanistan’s longest river. My mother has walked through it, says there are rooms as well. She spent most of her childhood in Lashkargah & visited often. It was a very popular tourist site in 1960-1970s. - Mariam A

The outer surface of arch is covered a tile or terracotta band of floral arabesques and a band of interlacing geometric motifs — including pentagrams and Hindu swastikas. Kufic bands to the right and left of the arch contain incomplete segments of a Quranic verse. #HelmandHistory #Afghanistan