Kenyan carriers resume scheduled domestic flights

Kenyan airlines have resumed domestic flights following the lifting of COVID-19 travel restrictions to/from the capital Nairobi. From May 2, 2021, Kenya Airways (KQ, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta) resumed 2x daily flights to Mombasa and daily flights to Kisumu, and would continue to review increasing its frequencies pending demand, it announced in a statement. For its part, Jambojet (JM, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta) resumed services to all of its six destinations on May 2, including 4x weekly between Nairobi and Mombasa, twice a week between Nairobi and Kisumu, and once weekly between Nairobi and Kisumu. It also resumed twice-weekly flights between Mombasa and Eldoret and Kisumu; and weekly services between Nairobi and Malindi and Ukunda, the carrier announced on its social media feed. In an effort to clamp down on the spread of COVID-19, the government, on March 26, had suspended all travel by road, rail, or air in and out of Nairobi, Kajiado, Machakos, Kiambu, and Nakuru counties. This had resulted in the country’s airlines suspending their domestic operations on March 29, 2021. Renegade Air (Nairobi Wilson) on social media announced it had resumed daily flights between Nairobi Wilson and Wajir on May 2, 2021. AirKenya (P2, Nairobi Wilson) announced it had resumed full operations from Wilson Airport to the Serengeti via Kilimanjaro, Entebbe/Kampala via Kisumu, the Maasai Mara, Amboseli, Nanyuki, Loisaba, Lewa, Meru, and Samburu. EastAfrican (B5, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta) (rebranded from Fly SAX (B5, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta)) also announced its resumption of operations. From Jomo Kenyatta International and Wilson Airports, it operates daily scheduled flights to safari and beach destinations in and around Kenya‚ including Malindi, Lamu, Homa Bay, the Maasai Mara, Wajir, Ukundu, and Lokichoggio. Safarilink Aviation (F2, Nairobi Wilson) announced the resumption of its services to safari destinations within Kenya and across the border into northern Tanzania while another safari operator, Governors’ Camp Collection, which operates Governors’ Aviation (Nairobi Wilson), with two Cessna (single turboprop) Grand Caravans, also announced the re-opening of its services, camps, and lodges. Skyward Express (OW, Nairobi Wilson) in a statement announced the resumption of its passenger and parcel flight service effective May 2 out of Nairobi’s Wilson Airport. It continued to serve all its local destinations, including Mombasa, Malindi, Lamu, Ukunda, Eldoret, Lodwar, Garissa, and Mandera. Meanwhile, low-cost carrier Fly540 (5H, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta) on its social media page announced the resumption of services on May 7, 2021. No further details were revealed. The airline on March 29 had also suspended all its service from Nairobi, including to Lodwar, Eldoret, Malindi, Lamu, Mombasa, Ukunda, and Zanzibar.