Delta: Kenya says it is a travel advisory

• Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula summons US ambassador Michael Ranneberger to his office to demand an explanation.

• He says the decision amounted to a travel advisory against Kenya, which he said could hurt the tourism sector.

• Mr Ranneberger at pains to explain the last minute change, saying it was a "postponement" and that flights would resume "soon."

The Kenya Government has reacted furiously to the US decision to cancel the maiden Delta Airlines flight to Nairobi.

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Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula summoned US ambassador Michael Ranneberger Wednesday to demand an explanation to the abrupt cancellation of the Airlines' inaugural flight to Nairobi.

“I have summoned the US ambassador to express our government’s concern about the cancellation of the Delta flight and particularly the manner and the nature in which it was done,” said Mr Wetang’ula.

“Things can be done in a much better manner. Great friends like Kenya and America do not have to communicate through website postings.”

He asked the envoy to notify Washington of Kenya’s displeasure and demand an explanation about the decision, terming it “unacceptable.”

He said the decision amounted to a travel advisory against Kenya, which he said could hurt the tourism sector at a time when the government was reaching out to US citizens to invest in the country.

“This is unacceptable, it is a covert imposition of a travel advisory against Kenya, many tourists who are planning to come to Kenya could easily read the postings on the website and cancel their trips,” the minister said.

The US envoy confirmed that the Kenya government had addressed all the concerns raised by Washington to clear the way for Delta Airlines to start direct flights between the two countries.

“We thank the government for enhancing security at the airport, we want American tourists to come to Kenya because it is a very safe destination,” he said.

The government’s furious reaction stem from a decision by the United States Department of Homeland Security to cancel the Airlines maiden flight from Atlanta, Georgia in the US to Nairobi in order to seek more time to review the flights.

A statement e-mailed to newsrooms by the US embassy in Nairobi on Tuesday evening attributed the decision to “last minute issues.”

Before summoning Mr Ranneberger to the news conference Wednesday morning, Mr Wetang’ula had indicated to journalists the steps Kenya had taken to ensure that it met all the security concerns raised by the US prior to the commencement of the flights.

The minister also outlined to journalists the preparations which the government had put in place ahead of the maiden flight, including dispatching Prime Minister Raila Odinga to the US to sign two agreements in order to enable the flights to commence.

He said the government had gone to the extent of dispatching Transport minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere to Atlanta, Georgia to be in the inaugural flight to Nairobi, with a stopover in Dakar, Senegal.

“Our minister (Mwakwere) who is in Washington was embarrassed alongside our ambassador (Peter Rateng Ogego)  at the last minute when he was boarding a flight from Washington to Atlanta and was told not to go to Atlanta because there was no flight to Nairobi,” a furious Wetang'ula complained to the envoy.

Mr Ranneberger was at pains to explain the last minute change, saying it was a “postponement” and that flights would resume “soon.”

“I very much regret the manner in which the decision reached the government. I have spoke to the prime minister and I have emphasised that it is a postponement and that we will resume soon,” he explained.

“I have talked to Washington and to Delta and we are certain we’ll have this resolved,” he went on.

The envoy attributed the communication lapse to the fact that the decision was taken at the “last minute” without the US embassy in Nairobi being made aware.

He hinted that the decision was based on “security concerns” but pointed out that it had nothing to do with the breakdown of law and order in neighbouring Somalia.