Kenya and Tanzania will hold talks this month regarding bilateral air services agreements. This was confirmed to Tourism Update by Nicholas Bodo, officer in charge of air transport at Kenya’s Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure.
The countries have previously accused each other of closing the skies for airlines seeking to launch new routes. According to Bodo, Tanzania has so far limited Kenyan carriers to Kilimanjaro only. When and where the talks will take place is not yet clear, as Bodo said the two countries were in the process of initiating the talks and had not set a definite date.
The planned talks are great news for fastjet, as the airline was recently granted an Air Service Licence (ASL) by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority. The granting of the ASL clears the way for fastjet Kenya to commence the application process for an Air Operator Certificate which would allow it to operate domestic flights within Kenya as well as regional flights.
Chief Commercial Officer for fastjet, Richard Bodin, told Tourism Update the airline had applied some time ago to operate between Zanzibar and Nairobi. “That application has been somewhat challenging. But, I think, obtaining the ASL is a good indication that the authorities are recognising the benefits of having a vibrant and dynamic aviation industry linking the two countries.”
Bodin said fastjet had spoken to the authorities in Tanzania and to senior politicians in Kenya and explained the benefits fasjet could bring to the market. “We emphasised the fact that we are not interested in cannibalising traffic – we’re not going to target Kenya Airways or anybody else. We’re not interested in targeting other airlines; we want to grow the market by taking people off the buses and giving them the opportunity to fly. That’s what we’ve done in Tanzania and we would like to do the same in Kenya.”
On other matters, Kenya and Tanzania have agreed to scale up co-operation, such as the war on poaching and terrorism. During bilateral talks at State House, Nairobi, President Uhuru Kenyatta and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete affirmed their commitment to work closer together.
