Tristar Air, a new passenger airline, has joined a growing number of budget airlines taking to the Kenyan skies.

Donald Kigali Band, Head of Sales and Marketing at Tristar Air, told Tourism Update that the new airline is a product of a joint venture between three other airlines in Kenya, namely BushAir, Rudufu and BuffAir. Each airline holds an equal stake in Tristar Air, and will only concentrate on passenger flights.

During the company’s launch on Thursday (June 21), Tristar Air CEO, Daniel Murithi explained that BushAir, Rudufu and BuffAir were predominantly involved in cargo. They came together to create an entity that could tap solely into passenger flights, reports Standard Digital.

According to Band, Tristar Air operates a fleet of five Fokker 50 aircraft, one King Air and one Caravan.

“Currently Tristar is a weekend operator, with flights from Friday through to Monday on its various routes,” said Band.

Tristar Air operates flights from Wilson Airport to Mombasa, Ukunda, Takaba, Mandera, Kisumu, Eldoret, and Eldoret to Lodwar.

Band said the airline was already looking at increasing frequencies and would start flying on Wednesdays before it commenced daily operations.

Two weeks ago, Tristar Air ferried 80 Russian tourists to Malindi from Nairobi. Tristar Air Head of Commercial, Dick Opiyo said: “I can confidently say we are the first airline to take such a number of Russian tourists to Malindi, which is best known for Italian tourists,” reports The Star (Kenya).

Direct flights between Nairobi and Mombasa will cost Sh4 300 (€37), for example.