Nairobi picked as Brazilian Airline landing point in Africa

By Patrick Githinji

Nairobi has been picked as the Brazilian Airline landing point in Africa.

At a meeting in Nairobi on Tuesday, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva told Kenyan business community that soon, Brazilian Airlines will be flying to Africa using Nairobi as the base.

"Kenya is the convenient location since it has easy access to the rest of Africa," he said.

The airline will connect Nairobi and Sao Paulo and will shorten the distance between Brazil and Africa.

There are over 20 international airlines flying to and from Kenya. Already, South African Airways is the only African airline flying directly to Brazil.

Confirming the deal, Trade Minister Amos Kimunya said discussions by both governments are at a final stage.

He disclosed that the two parties were still holding discussions on the bilateral air services agreement that would pave way for the airline to commence flights between South America and East Africa. Technical teams involved in the talks took advantage of the presence of the Brazilian President in Kenya to work out the finer details of the agreement and ensure it is signed by the end of the month.

key steps

Kimunya said negotiations revolved around areas that airlines will operate in, where they will land, taxation among others.

"I hope that sooner rather than later, we will complete our discussions so that we can have direct flights from South America through Brazil into Africa. This will be an important step for Kenya," he said.

Kimunya said Kenya is supporting the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) Aeronautical industry.

There are nine Embraer Aircrafts in Kenya and two more will be arriving into the country before the end of the year.

This move is anticipated to boost the tourism industry and attract visitors from Southern America.

Silva further urged Brazilian construction companies to participate in Kenya’s infrastructure through constructing roads, ports and hydro-electric power plants in Kenya.

In recent years, Kenya has invested in rehabilitating its dilapidated roads network and expanding it.