Uganda’s relaunched national carrier has started flights to a second destination in Kenya, with a three times per week service to Routes Africa 2019 host Mombasa, as it prepares to take delivery of its first wide-body aircraft.
While its rivals Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways are looking closely at the sustainability of their business models, Qatar Airways shows no signs of slowing its incredible network growth and surprised guests at this year’s Arabian Travel Market in Dubai this week by revealing an additional 12 new markets that should see the airline service in 2018.
To date, passenger traffic between the major cities of Dar es Salaam and Nairobi, which have a combined population of over eight million people, has been limited by high air fares which we believe, have excluded large parts of the local population from air travel. The only alternative to flying is to undertake a long and difficult journey by road, which can take up to 12 hours.
The granting of the ASL clears the way for fastjet Kenya to commence the application process for an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) which, once received, will allow the airline to operate domestic flights within Kenya. However, it will remain a long, and arduous journey before the budget airline begins flights.
The start-up inaugurated operations on the morning of April 1, 2014 initially offering up to six daily rotations between Nairobi and Mombasa, a double daily link between the capital and Kisumu and a ten times weekly service between Nairobi and Eldoret.
