Europe’s largest tour operator TUI Airlines, has taken another shot at getting a licence from Kenya’s aviation authority to operate flights from Amsterdam to Mombasa, less than two months after a similar request was rejected earlier in June 2025.
Records show that TUI has tabled a fresh request to the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) for a licence to the Amsterdam-Zanzibar-Mombasa-Amsterdam routes.
TUI’s latest application to the KCAA shows that it plans to operate two flight frequencies per week without traffic rights between Zanzibar and Mombasa using aircraft type B787 based in Amsterdam.
In the aviation industry, flights without traffic rights refer to flights that operate under the first or second freedom of the air. These freedoms allow an airline to fly over another country's airspace without landing (First Freedom) or to land for technical stops such as refuelling (second freedom), but without picking up or dropping off passengers or cargo.
TUI will be hoping for approval this time round amid a resurgence in the tourism industry. The Dutch charter airline operates flights to various destinations, including Asia, North and South America, and Africa.
A tour charter plane refers to an aircraft hired by a tour operator or travel agency to transport a group of tourists to a specific destination on a pre-arranged schedule, rather than being part of a scheduled airline's regular flight service.
Chartering a flight comes with benefits compared to flying commercially, including flexibility as one can choose their itinerary and departure time among others. This is very different from flying commercially, where the plane, route, and times are all fixed.
TUI resumed operations in the East African region in November 2024 with a maiden flight to Zanzibar. The TUI Boeing Dreamliner touched down at the Moi International Airport (MIA) in Mombasa for the first time in six years, when the carrier suspended services due to an upsurge in insecurity exacerbated by the pandemic.
TUI, whose parent firm is the world's largest tour operator, stopped chartering tourists to Kenya after the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office warned against non-essential travel to Mombasa, Garissa, and Eastleigh in Nairobi due to security concerns. It later extended the suspension following the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020.
The company also owns a number of hotels and lodges in East Africa and has been operating in the region using third-party airlines, mainly KLM and British Airways, during the period of suspension.
A gazette notice by KCAA shows that local firm, Astral Aviation Limited, is also seeking a permit to vary its existing air service licence for international scheduled air service to include the Nairobi-Dubai-Haikou Meilan-Delhi-Nairobi route.
A Tanzanian airline, Fly Safari Airlink Limited, has also applied for international non-scheduled air service for passengers, cargo, and mail between designated entry and exit points in Tanzania and Kenya.
Fly Safari Airlink is also seeking a nod for international non-scheduled emergency medical air service between designated entry/exit points in Tanzania and Kenya, using aircraft type C208B based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
