US Delta's first flight in June

Delta Airlines on Tuesday unveiled their Nairobi operations office, a day after the Kenya Airports Authority received clearance on the security standards at the airport.

The airline is set to land its inaugural flight from Atlanta, US to Nairobi on June 3. The flight will be a major boost to Kenyan businesses especially horticulture and tourism due to the direct entry to the US.

Initially, fears had been expressed over the delay by the KAA to fulfil certain security enhancements ahead of the flight.

However, in a statement on Monday, KAA said that the US Department of Home Security had issued a preliminary audit report certifying the standards.

“This now means that Delta Airlines can comfortably operate from and to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport as scheduled in June as the airport complies with the international requirements,” noted the statement.

The airline will be operating four weekly flights to the US through Dakar, Senegal. The stop over will, however, not require passengers to obtain transit visas.

“The Dakar stop over will only be for fuelling purposes as passengers will not disembark from the flight,” said Mr Bobby Bryan, Delta sales manager West, Central and East Africa.