FAA GRANTS JOMO KENYATTA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT CATEGORY 1 STATUS
(Posted 24th February 2017)
Following years of failed audits and months of delay after the last audit finally put Jomo Kenyatta International Airport into the pass section, have news emerged overnight that Jomo Kenyatta International Airport has at last been cleared by the Federal Aviation Administration for the coveted Category 1 status.
While it may take some time before actual direct flights will be launched, most likely by Kenya Airways and their SkyTeam alliance partner Delta, is the legal foundation now taken care of. Carriers wishing to offer direct or nonstop flights now have to get designation from their respective home countries and then apply for landing rights, in Kenya for Nairobi and possibly Mombasa and in the United States at an airport of their choice.
Few airports in Africa have this clearance level of compliance with US demands, among them Addis Ababa, Johannesburg and Casablanca to name the key aviation hubs, and Nairobi joining this exclusive club will no doubt help to enhance tourism and trade.
The United States already emerged last year as Kenya’s largest source market for tourists, overtaking the UK from where charter flights to Mombasa have still not returned to the levels of past years.
As this turned out to be a breaking news development have tourism stakeholders not had the time to react at this stage.
