Economy

Bus companies fully booked ahead of Christmas festivities

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Passenger Service Buses Parked at the Modern Coast Yard in Mombasa. PHOTO | KEVIN ODIT | NMG

Buses heading to various routes upcountry from Nairobi are fully booked ahead of Christmas festivities as City residents prepare to travel to their rural homes to celebrate with their loved ones.

A spot check done by the Business Daily Tuesday showed that Guardian Bus Service from Nairobi plying Busia, Kisumu, Siaya and Mumias routes from Nairobi are booked up to December 25.

Ena Coach to Busia, Siaya and Bondo from Nairobi are full up to December 28 while the bus that heads to Kisii from Nairobi from the same bus firm is fully booked up to December 26th.

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Modern Coast on routes such as Mombasa, Kilifi and Malindi from December 20 to December 25 have a few seats left.

“Most of our routes are fully booked up to December 28 and we may be forced to add more buses to cater for increased demand,” a representative from Ena Coach told the Business Daily yesterday.

Airlines have also increased fares for early bookings for Nairobi to Mombasa and Malindi flights barely 11 days before Christmas and the ticket prices are expected to rise further in the coming weeks.

Jambojet is currently charging passengers flying to Mombasa from Nairobi on December 24 up to Sh17,300 on one-way air tickets from Sh8, 100 it is charging today.

Tickets to Malindi from the capital for December 24 flights with the same carrier have shot to Sh17,300 from the current Sh11,100.

Carriers reckon that flights to the coastal towns of Mombasa and Malindi will this year cross the Sh25, 000 mark on the expected jump in demand.

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This means that Kenyans intending to book flights close to December 25 will pay more, promising to boost revenues of the carriers that were hit hard by tight travel measures imposed by the State to curb Covid-19.

Guardian is charging Sh1,650 to ferry passengers to Busia, Kisumu, Kakamega and Mumias from Nairobi down from the Sh1,400 it was charging a few months ago which represents an 18 per cent increase.

Ena Coach charges a flat fare of Sh1, 400 to Busia, Siaya and Bondo from Nairobi. It also charges a flat fare of Sh1,200 to Kisii from Nairobi.

Easy Coach is charging Sh1,700 for a one-way ticket from Nairobi to Kitale, up from Sh1,450 which represents a 17 per cent increment and Sh1,800 to Kisumu from Sh1,400 previously representing a 29 per cent increase.

Easy Coach had for a long time maintained its fare at Sh1,450 throughout different seasons including Christmas when demand for upcountry travel peaks.

Other buses such as Greenline have increased their fares from Sh1,500 previously on a one-way ticket from Nairobi to Kisumu to Sh2,000 representing a 33 per cent increase.

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