原文取自经济学人：Yet African airlines feel like a prop-blast from the past in regrettable ways, too. In most places, schedules are about as reliable as they were when planes could take off or land only in clear weather. Tickets are costly. Routes are convoluted: a passenger wanting to fly from Algiers to Lagos may have to go via Europe, turning a four-and-a-half-hour journey into one that takes at least nine hours. Most airlines are state-owned and protected from competition. Like a lot of national carriers elsewhere, they tend to be chronically unprofitable and to need frequent bail-outs from taxpayers.

解析：1. a prop-blast from the past是固定表达，指让人突然想到过去的回忆；in regrettable ways这种in ..way 可以直接翻译为副词，很遗憾，其实就是说但是很遗憾，非航同时也让人们突然想起了过去糟糕的回忆。读完是不是还没理解意思，举个例子吧，比如你和一个朋友说你今年高考考中了状元，你朋友去年与状元只差几分，你看到他沮丧的表情之后，你就可以说，但是很遗憾，让你突然想起过去糟糕的回忆。大概就这样，你自己细细品味去，时间有限，只能解析这样了。2.reliable 这个词我感觉作者是用了讽刺，翻译的时候加“”就可以表示讽刺。为什么这么说呢？何为可靠？一种解释就是它很有规律，不变来变去。大家想，因为非洲航班只有才晴天时才起飞或着陆，下雨天你就不需要去赶飞机了，打雷天你就不需要去机场接人了，去了肯定白去，你说它们可靠不可靠？3. as as they were 和过去.一样... 。when planes could take off or land only in clear weather里面是could 很明显是过去式，那就是说过去。

整句译文（时间有限，只能这样，你们再美化下我的措辞）：但是非航似乎也让人们突然想起了过去糟糕的回忆。在非洲大部分地区，航班和过去一样“可靠”，只有在天气晴朗时才起飞或着陆。