Was your GW in Algeria, right?
Well, obviously not the same junk (at all), but I was quite amazed to remain n°1 in GW#2 for more than ten years in a row, considering I'm "only" based in USSR/Russia.
Yes, Algeria. I even had all those tiny airports with 7-10 Regional jets not even full. Russia has more potential, but the inability to expand in Europe is a score killer in the end game. My best games I all did in Europe or the USA. There are a very few parts of Asia that would allow to be on the podium as well. With perfect optimization for score, I think I could have been 7th/8th, not better. Our colleague in Cairo was 14th, and he also optimized for scoring a lot.
I wanted to know if a scoring podium was possible while playing in Africa. Answer is no, but not by much. I'm barely 100 points behind, after all.
Now, I'm going up again in difficulty. Will play in Tahiti.