Africa
Tanzania Lifts Ban on Kenyan Planes, Kenya Airways to Resume Flights on Monday
Kenyan planes can now land in Tanzania after Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) announced that it had lifted their suspension on Wednesday, September 16, 2020.
The ban on Kenyan flights was effected in July 2020 as retaliation for Kenya’s decision to subject Tanzanian passengers to a mandatory 14-day quarantine upon arrival in the country.
Kenya had accused Tanzania of failing to disclose its COVID-19 statistics, a claim Tanzania denied.
The “tit for tat” game between the two neighboring East African countries still remains.
The lifting of the ban came after the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) on Tuesday included Tanzania among the 147 countries that are exempted from mandatory quarantine upon arrival.
Other countries that have been added include Sierra Leone, Ghana, and Nigeria.
Hamza Johari, the director-general of TCAA said that lifting the ban was a way of Tanzania acting on the basis of returning the favor.
“In view of that and on reciprocal basis, Tanzania has now lifted the suspension for all Kenyan operators namely Kenya Airways, Fly 540 Limited, Safarilink Aviation and AirKenya Express Limited,” said Johari in a statement.
Johari also mentioned that Tanzania “shall always strive to adhere to the fundamental principles and bilateral air services between the two states.”
He says Kenyan carriers can resume flights immediately.
Kenya Airways (KQ) announced that it would resume flights to Tanzania on Monday.
Following the lifting of the ban, Kenya Airways, in a statement on Wednesday, announced their “first flight to Dar es Salaam will be on Monday, September 21” and that the carrier “shall only have a morning flight and the second flight will be on 23rd”
The Kenyan National flag carrier will later have “two flights” daily.
Before the ban, KQ had planned two daily flights to Dar es Salaam.
