Kenya Bans All Passenger Flights From Dubai

Kenya has suspended all inbound and transit passenger flights from the United Arabs Emirates (UAE) for seven days. The suspension took effect on January 10, 2022, for an initial period of seven days.

The suspension was confirmed by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) Director-General, Gilbert Kibe. The ban does not however affect cargo flights that are normally flown by carriers such as Kenya Airways and Emirates airline from UEA into Kenya.

“Inbound and transit passenger flights from UAE are suspended for a period of seven days. We are doing this to reciprocate a ban on Kenyan passenger flights to UAE,” said Mr. Kibe Tuesday.

In what is seen as a retaliation move against Dubai which had banned all passenger flights from Kenya is due to alleged fake Covid-19 vaccination certificates.

Last year, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority temporarily suspended all air transport services with inbound and transit passenger movements from Kenya. DCAA said customers will not be accepted for travel on Emirates flights in Nairobi during this time.

“Customers will not be accepted for travel on Emirates flights at Nairobi during this time,” read an excerpt from the Authority.

Outbound passenger operations from Dubai to Nairobi remain unaffected. DCAA did not give a clear reason for the suspension of the flights, however, there have been concerns raised over travelers issuing fake Covid-19 certificates.

The ban comes barely a few days after UAE extended Kenya flight ban after it established that travelers from Nairobi were testing positive for Covid-19 after arrival in the Middle East nation, despite carrying negative test results.

The Ministry of Health has however launched a probe on the matter with a view to bringing to book health officials who were involved in the shoddy deal that has now coasted Kenya millions of shillings in lost passenger revenues.

In addition, the United States, US, has downgraded Kenya to level three travel advisory, a category that requires American citizens to avoid all non-essential travel to the country or reconsider planned trips in the wake of a surge in Covid-19 infections.

According to its first travel advisory this year, the US made the review against Kenya last week, dealing a fresh blow to the recovering tourism sector.

Kenya had been categorized at level one in October, which is a much safer classification that only requires citizens to follow standard procedures such as putting on face masks.

The Level Three category normally applies to destinations that have had between 100 and 500 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days.

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