CS Macharia grants flydubai Dubai-Mombasa flights nod

Transport secretary James Macharia has granted low-cost carrier flydubai the rights to begin daily flights between Dubai and Mombasa in a move that will raise competitive pressure on Kenya Airways.

flydubai, a state-owned airline, can now apply to the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) for technical authority to operate the daily flights to the coastal city.

The airline has been in existence since May 2009 and flies to over 95 destinations in Middle East, Europe and Asia including Tanzania, Eritrea, Rwanda Ethiopia, Uganda, South Sudan, Sudan, Egypt and Djibouti in Africa.

Kenya Airways, which announced a record-breaking full-year loss last week, operates two daily flights to Dubai from its Nairobi hub.
The imminent entry of flydubai will see its fight for customers go a notch higher.

“They have been granted traffic rights from Dubai to Mombasa, a daily flight,” Gilbert Kibe, KCAA director general, told the Business Daily in an interview on Friday.

flydubai may also be given rights to fly the Nairobi to Dubai route as well.

Kenya Airways operates one to three daily flights between Kenya and Dubai, with Mombasa customers having to fly via Nairobi.

A flydubai customer care agent said the airline has not made any official statement on its intention to expand into Kenya.

flydubai’s imminent entry comes at a time when KQ, which posted a Sh26.2 billion loss in the year to March, is decrying the government’s policy of granting licences to more airlines eating into its local and international business.

“If we want to build Nairobi as an aviation hub, we must have our policies right. Thus, government policies must be aligned to the airline commerce,” Mbuvi Ngunze, KQ’s chief executive, told the Nation.

This was in reference to the policy practised by the Ethiopian government where, for instance, all State officials must fly national carrier Ethiopian Airlines while agents must sell a majority their tickets on the airline or risk deregistration.

The industry regulator however believes that flydubai will not pose any danger to KQ’s business since the two target different types of customers.

“The people who use legacy airlines will continue using legacy airlines but the people who are more price-sensitive will now start using airlines,” said Mr Kibe.

He added that local traders who were unable to afford flying to Dubai for business will find it affordable and that Kenya will benefit from an increased inflow of tourists.