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Increased Coast flights to push visitor numbers up
The move by local carriers to introduce and increase flights to the Kenyan coast is a boost to the region that is yet to fully recover on international arrivals.
Low-cost airline Fly540 will from today begin flights to Diani in the South Coast while Kenya Airways, which recently increased flights to Mombasa, is set to launch a flight to Malindi next month.
Ukunda will be Fly540’s fourth destination to the Coast after Mombasa, Malindi and Lamu. The move by both airlines targets the busy December holiday.
Linking routes
“These new flights will help boost tourism to the Coast,” said Mike Macharia, the Kenya Association of Hotel Keepers & Caterers chief executive.
KQ’s move to Malindi is expected to link the coastal town to Rome, where the airline will begin flights in December. Titus Naikuni, the Kenya Airways chief executive, said the government’s investment in infrastructure will enable the airline to create such linkages between destinations in Kenya and Europe.
Italians are known to frequent Malindi and including it in the KQ network is seen as a major boost for international arrivals at the Coast, which remain below 2007 levels — the industry’s best performing year.
The Coast region relies heavily on charters, many of which withdrew during the slump in 2008 and are yet to return. From a high of 40 charters every month, the number dropped to less than ten and has only risen to at least 30 this year.
“The recovery level is still low leaving a gap in the market,” said Mr Macharia.
Reduced charter flights and frequencies saw international arrivals at the Moi International Airport Mombasa at 143,530 as of August this year compared to 176,941 in 2007 — 18.8 per cent down — even though it was 34 per cent above 2009.
The Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) recorded a 9.4 per cent growth as of August 2010 compared to the same period in 2007. Arrivals stood at 557,653 compared to 509,656 in 2007 and 13 per cent above 2009.
The poor performance by cruise tourism to Kenya, mainly due to piracy on the Gulf of Eden, has also led to fewer leisure tourists docking at the coast.
Kenya Airways is looking at growing its passenger number in the domestic market and has increased frequencies to Mombasa from 42 to 59 every week in the recent past.
Last week the airline introduced the “Mombasa shuttle” that will see two Embraers from its fleet of 29 aircrafts dedicated to this route.
