Kenya Airways to resume Tanzania flights next week
SERVICES: Kenya Airways (KQ) is set to resume scheduled flights to Tanzania on Monday after the two countries resolved a dispute over Covid-19 travel restrictions.
On Tuesday, Kenya finally included her South Western neighbour in a revised list of countries whose citizens are allowed into the country without the mandatory 14-day Covid-19 quarantine, a factor that led to the lifting of the suspensions by Tanzanian authorities.
“Yes, it is true that we will resume on Monday. We just did not want to issue a statement ahead of the government,” a source familiar with the issue said.
Landing rights
In effect, Kenya Airways, popularly known by the code KQ will resume its services with a morning flight to the Julius Nyerere International Airport, Dar es Salaam on September 21 and 23 with Zanzibar following on September 26 with three weekly scheduled flights on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
The initial exclusion of Tanzania in the list led the country’s authorities to retaliate by denying Kenya Airways, Air Kenya Express, Fly540, and SafariLink Aviation landing rights.
In a statement, Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority director general Hamza Johari said the authority was acting on a reciprocal basis after its Kenyan counterpart, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, included Tanzania on a revised list of countries exempted from the 14-day mandatory quarantine upon arrival.
“For the purpose of this release, therefore, the resumption and restoration of flights for all operators are with immediate effect, and Kenya Civil Aviation Authority has been informed accordingly,” he said. Johari said Tanzania will always strive to adhere to fundamental principles and bilateral air services between the two states.
The latest review of the 147 countries whose travellers are exempted from the 14-day mandatory Covid-19 quarantine also includes Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Morocco, Namibia and India, in addition to Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
KQ resumed international flights on August 1, heading to about 30 destinations for the first time since the routes were suspended in March due to the virus.
