Kenya Airways planes are seen through a window as the Jomo Kenyatta international airport reopens after flights were suspended following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Nairobi, Kenya, Aug. 1, 2020. COVID-19 lockdowns in East Africa brought air travel to a halt for months. Now, airlines in the region are returning to the air.
This month, Kenya and Rwanda lifted a ban on international flights, joining Tanzania and Ethiopia.
“The measures that we have taken will ensure that we completely limit the risk of transmission of this virus,” said Kenya Airways CEO Allan Kilavuka during a recent press conference .
Kenya, an international transit hub, banned international commercial flights in March due to the coronavirus, putting extra pressure on the already struggling Kenya Airways. Last year, Kenyan lawmakers voted to nationalize the airline due to mounting debt.
Despite the reopening, many of the airline’s transit routes will remain closed, including a new flight from Nairobi to New York that launched in 2018. “This is the new normal. We are following traffic and demand. As demand picks up, we also increase traffic or we introduce other destinations. And when demand drops we will also respond." Allan Kilavuka, CEO, Kenya Airways “This is the new normal. We are following traffic and demand. As demand picks up, we also increase traffic or we introduce other destinations. And when demand drops we will also respond,” Kilavuka said.
Still, many are relieved to see the resumption of international flights at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
“From where we started, with zero international traffic, we are having regular services. So in terms of percentage increase, traffic movement has been exponential,” said Gilbert Kibe, director general of Kenya’s Civil Aviation Authority.
He says every part of the country’s aviation ecosystem has had to adjust to the pandemic.
“Passenger experience, from leaving the transport they arrived in at the airport, to entry, check-in, baggage drop-off, waiting in lounges, entering the aircraft,” he explained.
Travelers from more than 120 countries are now allowed to fly in and out of Kenya, provided they have a negative coronavirus PCR test in hand. That includes the US, with the exception of California, Texas and Florida.
Still, reopening is only the first step to helping Africa’s aviation industry, which was already struggling before the pandemic. “Many of the airlines across the continent are in need of dire need of financial support to be able to continue their existence." Raphael Kuuchi, International Air […]
