Kenya Airways to resume flights to Dar es Salaam on Monday

Dar es Salaam. Kenya Airways (KQ) is set to resume scheduled flights to Dar es Salaam and other destinations in Tanzania with effect from Monday September 21, the airline has confirmed.
The new development comes after authorities reached an amicable resolution to an aviation market spat between the two countries, precipitated by differences in the management of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Yesterday, Tanzania lifted a ban on Kenya’s airlines after the neighboring country on Tuesday removed the former from the list of countries whose people would be quarantined upon entering Kenya.
 “Our first flight to Dar es Salaam will be on Monday, September 21, where we shall have only a morning flight and the second flight will be on 23rd, and we shall be having two flights henceforth,” said the airline said in a statement yesterday.
Zanzibar flights on the other hand will resume on September 26 with three flights weekly on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
“I’m excited the issue has been resolved in a good and amicable way and we are ready to come back and do what we do best,” Kenya Airways country manager Joyce Mcharo told The Citizen over the phone.
Precision Air which is Kenya Airways partner has planned to resume its Nairobi flights on October 1.
Precision Air chief executive officer Patrick Mwanri welcomed the new development between the two countries, expressing his optimism that travelers who were being discouraged by the 14-day quarantine requirement, would now have an appetite to fly to Kenya.
For ground handler Swiss port Tanzania, the lifting of the ban meant the return of business.
Kenya Airways is the Swissport’s fourth biggest customer, after Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL), Emirates and Ethiopian Airlines when it comes to contribution to the ground handler’s revenue portfolio, according to company’s chief executive officer Mrisho Yassin.
The company would now recall some of its 400 employees who had been on leave due to a slowdown in business.
Former Swiss port CEO Gaudence Temu welcomed the news, saying it would be beneficial to both countries in the sense that it would facilitate smooth movement of people and goods between Dar es Salaam and Kenya.
Zanzibar Association of Tour Operators (Zato) chairman Hassan Mzee said the move would help Tanzania to restore the tourism sector which has been ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Last month, Tanzania nullified its approval for (KQ) flights into the country with effect from August 1, 2020 after Kenya excluded it (Tanzania) on the list of about 111 countries whose passengers are allowed to enter Kenya without being quarantined for 14 days.