By Getrude Matayo
The aviation industry has been one of the hardest hits by Coronavirus pandemic leaving millions of people jobless and billions of dollars in revenue lost.
Five major airlines are set to resume flights in and out of Kenya following the easing of international travel restrictions by the government on July 6, 2020.
According to Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala, as revealed on Sunday, Qatar Airways, Fly Emirate, British Airways, KLM, and Air France are the airlines that have indicated their intentions to resume their flights in the country.
The international flights were suspended in March after Kenya recorded her first case of coronavirus but last month the government eased travel restrictions.
Emirates will be the first to resume operations by offering a reparation flight on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, from Nairobi to Dubai departing at around 4:15 Pm
British Airways will resume on August 1, 2020, operating four flights weekly on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Qatar Airways and KLM will both resume operations into and out of Nairobi on August 3, 2020, with the latter also offering four weekly on the same as British Airways.
Qatar Airways said it will after 14 weekly flights subjected to regular approval further advising passengers to check the information published by the government of their destination country before traveling.
Air France will resume flights on August 6, with one fight to Paris every Friday. There are fears by passengers, however, the airlines may hike fares to cover for the losses made during the suspension of international flights.
Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala said health and safety remain the government’s topmost priorities amid the gradual opening of the economy.
Among the airlines that are already operating domestic flights are Kenya Airways and its subsidiary Jambo jet which resumed operations a week ago.
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