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EDITORIAL: Kenya Airways blazes trail to US for East Africa

Saturday October 27 2018
kq

A Kenya Airways plane: It will be the first time in the history of East Africa that an airline based in the region will be flying passengers point-to-point to the US without an intermediate stop. FILE PHOTO | NMG

By The EastAfrican

The commencement of direct air services to the United States by Kenya Airways on October 28 represents the realisation of a decade-long ambition of both US and Africa-based airlines.

Since the mid-2000s, Nairobi, Entebbe and Kigali have been working to gain certification to operate flights to the US with varying degrees of success.

On Sunday, KQ inaugural flight to New York will depart Nairobi for the land of opportunity. It will be the first time in the history of East Africa that an airline based in the region will be flying passengers point-to-point to the US without an intermediate stop.

Although aircraft capable of executing such a mission as Kenya Airways will be undertaking this weekend have been around for some time, it has not been possible to mount such services in recent memory because Jomo Kenyatta International Airport had not earned US Federal Aviation Administration certification. Indeed, the last commercial flight out of Nairobi by a US airline took off about 30 years ago.

Until now, Ethiopian was the only carrier in the East African region that offered departures to the US. However, the outbound leg of these flights to Washington and Los Angeles, must pass through airports in Italy and Ireland just to circumvent this technicality.

Also, it is the absence of such credentials that scuttled plans by Delta, which wanted to launch a service between Atlanta and Nairobi in 2009. The cancellation of those plans, which happened at the very last minute, was the result of denial of security clearances for Delta by the US.

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That the flights can now happen is therefore testimony to the efforts that Kenya has put into improving its security perception and the accompanying investment in support infrastructure.

Besides reducing the hassle US bound passengers from around Kenya Airways’ network will have to go through, the service is a boon to the region in many other ways. One is that it opens the way for additional services to the United States by other airlines in the region.

Subject to negotiation, airlines such as RwandAir can also fast-track their own services to the US by routing the outbound leg through Nairobi.

Also under the principle of reciprocity, US airlines can now seek approval for services to Kenya from their hubs. Were that to happen, it would increase the options for point-to-point travel to the US.

It would also be a boon for East Africa and the regional tourism industry because airlines invest a considerable amount of money in marketing the destinations they fly to.

With the Single Tourist Visa, Uganda and Rwanda can also expect to benefit from Kenya’s pioneering flights. Since the region and Africa in general are perceived as a single destination by Western audiences, a positive perception of Kenya will be beneficial to the rest of the region. But that also underlines the risk to Kenya and its new venture, from events that occur elsewhere in East Africa.

To minimise risk, Kenya will need to raise its diplomatic profile in the region to offer leadership on key issues such as democracy, human rights, peace and security.

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