Kenya Airways plane at JKIA. FILE PHOTO | NMG Kenya Airways has put on hold plans to start flights to Israel as the carrier continues to reel from the effects of Covid-19.
KQ managing director Allan Kilavuka said they are now concentrating on stabilising the existing network with the Tel-Aviv flights put on hold for future date.
Israel Ambassador to Kenya Joseph Oded had told the Business Daily that a Kenyan delegation was to visit Israel this year for negotiations on the deal but that was halted by the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, which saw grounding of flights worldwide.
“We are putting them on hold for now as we try and stabilise the network,” Mr Kilavuka said yesterday.
KQ was to start nonstop flights between Kenya and Israel last year March but the plans were dealt a blow after Sudan restricted the national carrier from using its airspace to Israel because of diplomatic differences between Tel-Aviv and Khartoum.
Mr Oded said the delegation from Israel was also to visit Kenya on talks regarding direct flight between the two countries.
He said the Tel-Aviv route is viable as there are a lot of people from the East Africa and beyond who would want to travel to Israel directly from Nairobi.
Currently, most passengers travelling to Israel use Ethiopian Airways or RwandAir, which are the only flights in Eastern Africa that go to the country.