Kenya has rejected a licence application by Europe's largest tour operator TUI charter airline to operate flights from Amsterdam to Mombasa, denying the country millions of shillings from the high-end clientele.
The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) in a May 30 notice said it had declined an application by TUI Airlines Nederland B.V for inclusive charter flights on the Amsterdam– Zanzibar – Mombasa routes.
TUI planned to operate two flights per week on the route using a Boeing 787 aircraft based at the Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, in the Netherlands.
“Licence not granted,” KCAA said in the notice without giving reasons for its decision. Players in the tourism industry said the decision to block the proposed charter flights dealt a blow to the sector.
“We’ve never had issues with charter flights, they are always approved, and right now they’ve allowed Italy and Poland among others,” said Mohammed Hersi, Group Director of Operations at Pollmans Tours & Safaris.
“Since time memorial, charter flights have never been rejected because these are packaged flights, and a way of getting your tourism numbers up. I think it’s a matter of time before they are given the licence because we are also engaging KCAA directly” he added.
“The TUI matter is under review, we’ve told them to appeal and we are lobbying, this is a misunderstanding that we need to resolve, they don’t want scheduled flights, and if we make it too difficult for them, they will blacklist us and move top fairer destinations.” Mr Hersi added.
The Dutch charter airline operates flights to various destinations such as Asia, North and South America, and Africa in Egypt and Cape Verde. It runs special request flights through Mombasa.
Last November, TUI resumed operations in the East African region with a maiden flight to Zanzibar.
The TUI Boeing Dreamliner touched down at the Moi International Airport in Mombasa for the first time in six years, when the carrier suspended services due to an upsurge in insecurity exacerbated by the pandemic.
TUI, whose parent firm is the world's largest tour operator, stopped chartering tourists to Kenya after the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office warned against non-essential travel to Mombasa, Garissa and Eastleigh in Nairobi due to security concerns. It later extended the suspension following the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020.
The gazette notice shows Martinair Holland-part of KLM Group has been granted a two-year licence for cargo and mail delivery from Entebbe-Kigali-Khartoum-Harare-Dar es Salaam-Johannesburg –Cairo-Lusaka-Capetown-Mauritius and Reunion.
KCAA denied its request to operate the same from Amsterdam to Nairobi and the other capitals are applied.
A Moldovan low-cost airline, Hisky will offer charter services from Bucharest in Romania to Zanzibar and Mombasa under a two-year license effective January 30, 2025, without traffic rights.
A Bulgarian charter airline, Electra Airways will fly one charter flight from Katowice in Poland to Mombasa from May 6th after getting a one-year permit.
Airlines that were denied permits to operate include Salaam Air and Cargo Express, SOS and Chris Aviation, African Airline International, and ASL (Ireland).
KQ and JamboJet’s licenses was renewed for another three years.
