International flights, British Airways, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Qatar Airways and Air France have announced the resumption of passenger services through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in August.
This follows the eased restrictions on air travel. The flights have remained suspended for over four months now in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
British Airways says it will operate 4 weekly flights on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday commencing August 1st.
Qatar Airways will resume operations with 14 weekly flights, but subject to regulatory approval, while KLM will begin with 4 flights beginning August 3rd.
On the other hand, Air France will commence with one flight to Paris, every Friday beginning August 6th.
However, Emirates will resume operations by offering a repatriation flight on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, from Nairobi to Dubai.
Kenya Airways will also resume international flights next month.
“We plan to resume flights to 27 destinations in August. This represents close to 50 percent of our routes pre-Covid,” said KQ chief executive officer Allan Kilavuka.
However, it will not fly to the United States of America and China. Some of the routes planned include a twice a day flight to Addis Ababa, Kigali and Dar es Salaam and thrice a week to Zanzibar.
KQ will have three weekly flights to London and Mumbai and five weekly flights to Dubai with reduced frequencies on the Amsterdam, Paris and London routes.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on July 6, gave a green light for both domestic and international flights as part of the phased re-opening of the economy.
According to the Magical Kenya Tourism and Travel Health and Safety Protocols, pilots and crew members flying into the country will not be allowed to leave their hotels or rooms except for emergency reasons when international travel resumes.
Travel Health and Safety Protocols
“Health and Safety remain our topmost priority, while gradually opening up our Kenyan economy,” said Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala.
“To ensure that risk of exposure to crew members through contact with local population is minimised, the following measures will apply; at the resting facilities (hotel) the crew members shall not be allowed to leave the hotel facility or rooms except for emergency reasons,” the Magical Kenya Tourism and Travel Health and Safety Protocols state.
On the other hand, Cytonn Investments observe that the continued reopening of top tier hotels since May, following the government’s approval for restaurants located in major towns to resume operations albeit under strict safety measures, “indicates the gradual recovery of the hospitality sector in Kenya following the adverse effects of the Coronavirus pandemic”.
Some of the hotels that have resumed operations include Villa Rosa Kempinski, Ole Sereni, Hemingways Watamu, Radisson Blu Arboretum, Trademark Hotel, DusitD2 Nairobi, and Maasai Mara Game Reserve (safari lodges and camps).
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