Direct Moscow-Mombasa flight set to begin, says Balala

By Maureen Mudi and Phillip Mwakio

Tourism Minister Najib Balala has disclosed that an inaugural direct charter flight from Moscow to Mombasa will start operations later this year.

Balala said following his recent tourism promotion trip to Moscow, he had fruitful discussions with tour operators there.

The announcement comes barely a week after the country’s top tourism marketer, Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) expressed fears that potential tourists willing to come to Kenya for holiday might not be able to do so due to fewer flights.

KTB chairman Jake Grieves-Cook said fewer charter flights flying to Mombasa were fully booked yet hotel bed capacity remains low.

Elsewhere, the national flag carrier has said its decision to withdraw from the Nairobi-Malindi route was as a result of low business levels.

Kenya Airways spokesperson Victoria Kaigai said that in early April, they decided to withdraw their Embraer, a 70-seater aircraft due to low business levels.

Promote tourism

At the same time, Balala announced that other charter flights from Belgium, France and Netherlands would begin operations from November this year.

Balala, who addressed the media in Mombasa on Sunday urged hoteliers to upgrade their facilities to international standards to help attract high-end clientele.

"The current high season looks promising and we shall ensure we recover fully from last year’s slump, which saw the industry do badly as a result of post-election chaos," he said.

Balala said Kenya has drawn a Memorandum of Understanding with the South African government to promote tourism activities in the region.

The minister said his South African counterpart would arrive in the country on August 17, for the signing ceremony.

"We intend to find opportunities of collaboration between the two nations to ensure tourism in the region fully recovers," Balala said.