Airline halts flights to Kisumu on low numbers

Aviation firm 748 Air Services has stopped operations on the Nairobi-Kisumu route barely two years since it started citing poor business.

The airline’s managing director Moses Mwangi said the decision to cancel the route early this month was due to low passenger numbers.

The exit of the carrier has left the market to rivals such as Kenya Airways, Safarilink, Jambojet and Renegade Air.

“We stopped operations on the route because numbers dwindled to a very uneconomical and unstainable level,” Mr Mwangi told Business Daily.

We could not establish the fate of workers affected by the closure of operations on the route.

However, sources in the aviation industry familiar with the developments said their contracts are yet to be terminated.

The competitive Nairobi-Kisumu route targets business travelers, holidaymakers, government business and families travelling to their rural homes.

Demand peaks during holiday seasons such as Christmas and when Kisumu hosts major events. The Kisumu county is among the key clients of carriers operating on the route.

748 Air Services that also operates on routes such as Mombasa, Malindi, Ukunda and Maasai Mara started paoperations on the Kisumu destination in May 2021 originating from its hub at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi two times a day.

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