With the pull out of M23 rebel forces from Eastern Congo's provincial capital of Goma both Monusco(UN) and local Air Transport Companies can breathe a collective sigh of relief and pray for a quick return to business as usual.
For their part the UN has been saved the embarrassment of Goma's Sunday afternoon walkathon where M23 forces entered the city un-opposed by those who are paid and mandated to stop rebel forces using Congo's mineral resources to bring suffering to the people of Eastern Congo.
UN flights have resumed since the ceasefire, allowing the world’s largest ever peacekeeping operation to once again dominate the skies of DRC and justify their enormous budget and exaggerated salaries unhindered.
As for the local companies who traffic the minerals such as cassiterite and coltan from the mines in places such as Walikale and Kasesse this whole sorry saga and the "negotiated settlement" between the Government and the rebels will almost certainly include the resumption of this illicit trade in human misery that was suspended earlier this year by DRC's Prime Minister Matata Mpoyo prompting this crisis in the first place.
One thing is for sure - Goma will still be a dangerous runway to operate in and out of with the German Co-operation's recuperation and rehabilitation of 500 meters of the old runway which has remained covered with lava for the last 10 years seemingly taking longer to achieve than the East German's took to build the Berlin Wall.
