Delta Airlines snubs Kenya, opts for Liberia

US based Delta Airlines began direct flights to Liberia on September 5, a year after US security officials forced cancellation of Delta's planned service to both Kenya and Liberia.

A spokesman for the US Transportation Safety Administration (TSA), which decides whether international destinations are safe for American carriers, told the Nation he does not know when flights to Nairobi might be approved.

The spokesman declined to comment on why Delta was cleared to fly to Liberia but not Kenya.

A Delta official said the airline is “working with the TSA” to address concerns about conditions at and near Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).

With additional routes between Atlanta in the state of Georgia and Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, Delta is now flying direct to seven African destinations.

The airline links the US to Accra, Ghana; Abuja and Lagos in Nigeria; Dakar, Senegal; Johannesburg, South Africa; and Cairo in Egypt.

Delta had planned to inaugurate service to Nairobi in June 2009. But the maiden flight was abruptly cancelled at the TSA's insistence, sparking an angry reaction from the Kenyan government.

The TSA said at that time: “Due to noted security vulnerabilities in and around Nairobi, and the failure to meet international security standards and appropriate recommended practices established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) at the Roberts International Airport in Monrovia, TSA is currently denying air service by Delta to Nairobi and Monrovia until security standards are met or security threat assessments change.”

Last week, the TSA announced the successful completion of cooperative efforts with the Liberia Civil Aviation Authority to enhance aviation security.

Liberia was devastated by an 11-year civil war that ended in 2000.

The country's former strongman, Charles Taylor, is being tried for war crimes by a United Nations-sponsored tribunal operating in The Hague.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia's democratically elected president, walked onto the runway at Roberts International Airport to welcome Delta's first flight after its landing Sunday.

"Delta Airlines' inaugural direct from Monrovia to the United States opens the skies over Liberia for business, for commerce for tourism, and for travel," President Sirleaf said.