Tanzania has blocked Kenya Airways from operating passenger flights along the Nairobi-Dar-es-Salaam route.
“This is to reciprocate the decision by the aeronautical authorities of the Republic of Kenya to refuse the Tanzanian request for all-cargo flight operations by Air Tanzania Company Limited under Fifth Freedom Traffic Rights between Nairobi and Third countries, contrary to Section 4 of the Memorandum of Understanding on Air Services, between Tanzania and Kenya signed on 24 November 2016 in Nairobi, Kenya,” said the Director General of Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority in a statement on Monday.
Following this Decision, there shall be no passenger flights by KQ between Nairobi and Dar es Salaam from 22 January 2024,” he added.
The decision is expected to disrupt air travel between the two countries.
The flights are popular among tourists and the business community.
The Nairobi-Dar es Salaam route is so lucrative for Kenya Airways, which runs 33 flights per week.
In 2020, Tanzania briefly suspended Kenya Airways flights “on a reciprocal basis” after the Kenyan government decided against including Tanzania in a list of countries whose passengers would be allowed to enter Kenya when commercial flights resumed on Saturday following the lifting of coronavirus restrictions.
The suspension was lifted after Kenya exempted Tanzanian nationals from the two-week quarantine.
Liberalise airspace
Tanzania today said it would always strive to adhere to the principles of Chicago Convention 1944 and Bilateral Air Services Agreement between States.
The development comes at a time the public is urging regional leaders to liberalise the East African airspaces to bring down the cost of air transport.
The East African region has one of the most expensive flight routes in the world per seat costs led by the Nairobi to Entebbe, Nairobi to Kigali and Nairobi to Dar es Salaam routes.
The expensive rates on both passenger and cargo flights contribute to the high cost of doing business in the region.
A passenger airline ticket between Entebbe and Nairobi costs $380 on average while that between Nairobi and Dar es Salaam is between $350 and $400 for economy class.
It is estimated that 43 per cent of air ticket prices in EAC comprise of regulatory charges and taxes, landing and parking rates, with regulatory fees accounting for up to 24 per cent.
Experts say the cost of air transport in the region could be less than $100 per route if the EA partner states removed all these tariffs.
Cheap air transport boosts tourism as aviation facilitates the arrival of larger numbers of tourists to a country. This includes business passengers and leisure tourists. Tourist spending can support a wide range of tourism- related businesses: hotels, restaurants, entertainment and recreation, car rentals, and others.
Affordable aviation also provides connections to export markets for both goods and services.
