Aviation
KQ to Suspend UK Flights from April 9.
Kenya Airways has suspended all its scheduled flights to the UK effective April 9, 2021. The flight suspension comes after Kenya was added to the ‘red list’ of countries by the UK last week on Friday.
The UK’s red list bars travelers from the listed countries from traveling into the UK. If it is extremely necessary to travel from the listed countries, a hotel quarantine and two negative covid-19 tests are required for one to be given entry into the country.
The decision to ban and suspend the flights comes as retaliation from the Kenyan government. This is after the government cited a lack of communication from the UK government before imposing the travel ban.
Ethiopian Air has also suspended flights in and out of the UK as Ethiopia was part of the red list. The United Arab Emirates airline and Rwanda Air have also suspended flights despite passengers using their flights on transit. This has therefore eliminated alternative routes for passengers to enter the U.K.
The Kenya National Flag carrier plans to fly extra services for the coming days before the 9th adding two flights on 7th and 8th April to cater for the high traffic experienced due to the ban. On April 7th the airline is operating 5 flights to London. The increase of flights before the date of suspension has increased the flight ticket five times than usual.
Direct flight prices to the UK have increasingly surged to $4,300 with only available business class seats available. Connecting flight prices are also expected to rise significantly in the coming days. The demand for tickets is most likely expected to surpass supply during a travel ban.
This travel ban news comes in the wake of KQ reporting the worst and massive loss in its generated annual revenue for the past financial year.
By Joy Ngoiri
