Domestic aircraft movements – landings and takeoffs – grew 13.2 per cent to 203,256 last year compared to 179,483 in 2015 when growth was a paltry 1.5 per cent and 176,046 in 2012.
Domestic flights last year jumped by the highest margin in four years, riding on the increased middle class appetite for air travel and cheaper fares by budget carriers like Jambojet.
Official data shows that domestic aircraft movements – landings and takeoffs – grew 13.2 per cent to 203,256 last year compared to 179,483 in 2015 when growth was a paltry 1.5 per cent and 176,046 in 2012.
This is the first time domestic flights have grown by double-digit percentage points.
Recent years has seen bus travellers turn to air travel, especially to western Kenya and the coast.
The entry of budget airline Jambojet in 2014 has also helped pushed down fares, making air travel fairly affordable in a region where flights are among the world’s most expensive.
“This development may be attributable to increased use of domestic air transport by the growing middle class in the country,” the latest Economic Survey says, underlining Kenyans’ increasing frequent flyer status.
More middle class homes are opting to fly within the country as a convenient alternative to road travel, especially for business-related trips or to visit holidaymaking coastal towns.
Domestic planes movement accounted for the bulk of total aircraft flights last year at 59.3 per cent, standing above international takeoffs and landings, the survey shows.
Increased domestic flights are also seen to be fuelled by aggressive marketing by low-cost carriers like Jambojet which began operations in 2014 and has been keen to entrench the culture of flying in Kenyans as is the case in developed nations.
Jambojet, which is a subsidiary of Kenya Airways #ticker:KQ, flies on more than six domestic routes — Eldoret, Kisumu, Mombasa, Lamu, Diani and Malindi, from its base in Nairobi.
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