The decision has angered Tanzanian authorities who retaliated by blocking AirKenya Express, Fly540 and Safarilink Aviation from flying to the country. FILE PHOTO | NMG Tanzania has banned three more Kenyan airlines from its market as a tit-for-tat trade war between the two countries escalated after Nairobi Tuesday once again excluded Tanzanians among travellers exempted from mandatory quarantine.
The latest blockade came after Nairobi for the second time retained Tanzania on the red list of nations with high risk in coronavirus cases — a position that means travellers from the neighbouring country will continue facing a mandatory two-week quarantine to curb the spread of Covid-19.
The decision has angered Tanzanian authorities who retaliated by blocking AirKenya Express, Fly540 and Safarilink Aviation from flying to destinations in the country.
They join the national carrier, Kenya Airways , which has remained banned from flying into Dar es Salaam for close to one month now.
“The basis of the decision to nullify our approval for the three Kenyan airlines is the ongoing dispute between the two countries,” Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) director general Hamza Johari confirmed in an interview with a Business Daily correspondent in Dar es Salaam.
Tanzania is a critical destination for Kenya Airways and the airline had planned two daily flights to Dar and three weekly flights to the resort city of Zanzibar from August 1 when Kenya resumed international flights.
Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) on July 30 cancelled plans to allow Kenya Airways to resume flights, citing the decision by Nairobi to exclude Tanzania from the list of countries whose nationals would be allowed entry under revised coronavirus restrictions.
Tanzania has gone silent on Kenya over resumption of Kenya Airways flights, more than 27 days after the government announced it has struck a deal with Dar.
Prior to the ban KQ, which operates its regional hub from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, had a permit to fly 14 times to Dar every week, three times to Kilimanjaro and two times to Zanzibar, mostly ferrying tourists and business travellers.
Nairobi, however, stood its ground, saying it would not compromise the health of its citizens by putting commercial interests first.
“We are not going to put commercial interests ahead of health matters. Commercial interests are subordinate to health risks,” Transport secretary James Macharia said last month.Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) director-general Gilbert Kibe said talks were ongoing to allow resumption of KQ flights to Zanzibar and Dar.Prior […]
