MIXED SIGNALS ABOUT KENYA’S APPROACH TO OPEN SKIES CAUSE CONCERN IN THE REGION
(Posted 04th February 2015)
Remarks attributed to Kenya’s Deputy President Ruto, who earlier in the week opened an aviation workshop in Nairobi, have caused consternation and concern in the East African region and beyond.
Ruto was quoted to this correspondent to have, among other things, said that while Kenya would welcome more airlines to fly to the country it will also not ‘tolerate unfair competition’.
From reactions received it is clear that both Uganda and Rwanda will seek an explanation if this could be the reason for the Kenyan aviation regulators imposing a capacity cap, after first delaying RwandAir’s fifth freedom right flights from Entebbe to Nairobi by several weeks, or if Kenya could be welshing on the approved return fare, all taxes included, of US Dollars 250 charged by RwandAir on the route.
Officials at the flight launch in Entebbe last week made clear reference to the obstacles they had to overcome, as the Kenyan aviation regulators made them jump over multiple hurdles and through a series of hoops, ostensibly to protect their own airlines, two of which fly on the route from Nairobi to Entebbe.
‘They are biased in favour of their own. They are the main reason fares were so high until RwandAir came on the market. Kenya is not a fair partner and I am beginning to see some merit in the reluctance of Tanzania to bow to pressure on demands which will only benefit Kenya’ ranted a regular aviation contributor from Entebbe.
Meanwhile in Tanzania was the comment immediately interpreted as a blanket approval by the Kenyan Deputy President to keep Fastjet out of the Kenyan skies. For nearly a year now has Tanzania designated Fastjet as their airline to fly from Dar es Salaam to Nairobi, demanding reciprocity vis a vis the existing Bilateral Air Services Agreement, under which presently two Kenyan airlines but only one Tanzanian airline flies on the route. ‘The way we were treated in Bali when we met at ICAN basically tells the story. They raised issues on the nationality standing of Fastjet but there are no issues. Tanzanian individuals hold the required majority of 51 percent shares in Fastjet. The reason they keep that airline off the route is simple. They fear for a major loss of market share and that their artificially expensive pricing comes crashing down. To add salt in the wound, they are asking for more frequencies for their own, saying there is unsatisfied demand. Let Fastjet fly to Nairobi and that demand will be taken care of at prices people can actually afford’ said a Dar es Salaam based aviation source. All eyes are now indeed on the Tanzanian regulators to see if and when retaliatory measures are imposed, a situation thought not helpful either for the talks tomorrow between the Kenyan and Tanzanian tourism delegations in Arusha.
‘I hope cooler heads prevail tomorrow’ added a Nairobi based tourism stakeholder. ‘We are keen to see more people from the region fly to Mombasa to help fill those empty beds but the way things are going, we will be caught up in that air war as you described it. And like it or not, we know that our own airlines have been blocking the likes of Qatar and others to fly to Mombasa. It is time that national interest takes over from company interest, especially when that company constantly fails to put international flights to Mombasa on the market’.
Meanwhile have two regular sources, close to the Transport Ministry and close to the regulators kept silent on questions if the Deputy President’s remarks were possible aimed at Qatar Airways, whose CEO last month expressed continued interest to fly to Mombasa but qualified the comment when putting the ball in Kenya’s court vis a vis traffic rights. ‘Ask the DP what he meant and whom he meant and please leave me out of it’ was the curt response from one of them, understandably not willing to lock horns with the Deputy President. Time as usual will tell where this is heading and if the Kenya coast tourism stakeholders can expect some fundamental changes or will have to continue relying on non-scheduled traffic and the two foreign airlines presently permitted to fly into Mombasa, Turkish and Ethiopian, with the latter incidentally the greatest rival of Kenya’s national airline.
