Author: Deus Ngowi
AfricaPress-Tanzania: TANZANIA has cancelled plans to allow Kenya Airways to resume flights to the largest East African nation after the Kenyan government excluded it in the list of nationals allowed into its territory.
Tanzania has been prompted to act swiftly in response to Kenya’s repeated actions of frustrating business.
Tanzania’s swift move will definitely hurt Kenya most.
Tanzania being one of its frequent destinations in the region, the ban means KQ will be adversely affected in its business as most countries open their skies in the post Covid-19 era.
Director General of Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA), Mr Hamza Johari has written a letter to Kenya Airways to make them aware that it has revoked KQ’s flight clearance.
Tanzanians have been excluded from people who are allowed to travel into Kenya effective yesterday when international flights resume in Kenya.
On its website, however, until yesterday KQ showed that it would be operating in Tanzania from August this year.
“The United Republic of Tanzania has noted through a number of media its exclusion in the list of countries whose people will be allowed to travel into Kenya effective 1 August 2020, the date that the Republic of Kenya will open its sky for international commercial passenger flights after having been suspended since 25 March 2020.
“The Authority regrets to inform you that, on a reciprocal basis, the Tanzanian Government has decided to nullify its approval for Kenya Airways (KQ) flights between Nairobi and Dar/Kilimanjaro/Zanzib ar effective 1 August, 2020 until further notice.
“The approval was granted to KQ vide our letter with Ref. No.TCAA/BA 21/68/112/102 of 30 July 2020,” said Mr Johari in his letter that was copied to the Permanent Secretary (Transport), Ministry of Works, KQ Country Manager and others. This means that KQ flights that frequented Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) in Kilimanjaro, Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) in Dar es Salaam and Abeid Karume International Airport in Zanzibar will cease.KQ was making flights from Dar es Salaam to Accra, Ghana; Lusaka, Zambia; Paris, France; Lagos, Nigeria; Mahe Islands, London, United Kingdom, among other destinations.
Mr Johari noted that the Government rescinds all previous arrangements that permitted KQ flights into Tanzania.
Kenya on Thursday announced that Tanzania was not among the initial list of 11 countries allowed to fly into Kenya. Transport Cabinet Secretary (CS), MrJames Macharia named countries allowed as China, South Korea, Japan, Canada, Uganda, France, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Switzerland and Morocco.
The CS said the list will be reviewed on a regular basis depending on the circumstances on the ground and after a comprehensive global mapping of the intensity of the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the communiqué, all the passengers arriving in Kenya will be required to produce a PCR based Covid-19 certificate whose test should have been done 96 hours before travel.
On arrival, the passengers’ temperature should not exceed 37.5 degrees and not display any Covid-19 related signs.Speaking during his 10th Presidential Address on Covid-19, President Uhuru Kenyatta told Kenyans not to think countries that are not releasing their coronavirus data are doing any better in handling the pandemic.
Aviation accounts for 4.6 per cent of Kenya’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The impasse is the latest after Kenya blocked Tanzanian truck drivers from entering their country, with Tanzania retaliating by slapping the same ban on Kenyan drivers at Taveta, Holili and Horohoro borders.
Kenya kept the ban in spite of Tanzania and Kenya presidents resolving the matter and ministers responsible for works and transport penning an agreement to stop the stalemate.
Kenya had also taken a harsh move, banning shuttle buses from Tanzania to access Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), a move that led to a drop of airline passengers using the buses and the main concern of operators was about the future cooperation in tourism between the two East African Community (EAC) partner states.
Kenya also banned importation of rice from Tanzania in yet another sign of unending trade wars between the two largest economies in East Africa.
Kenya Airways was founded in 1977 after the dissolution of East African Airways. Their head office is located in Embakasi, Nairobi, with its hub at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. It is currently a public-private partnership.
The largest shareholder is the Government of Kenya (48.9 per cent), 38.1 per cent is owned by KQ Lenders Company 2017 Ltd., followed by KLM that has a 7.8 per cent stake in the company.
The rest of the shares are held by private owners; shares are traded on the Nairobi Stock Exchange, the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange and the Uganda Securities Exchange.
