Kenya to wait longer for direct flights to US as protocol and security issues are sorted
What you need to know:
- He said America sent representatives from its Department of Transportation and Homeland Security to work with Kenyan officials and a degree of progress has been made.
- Kenya has been pushing for the introduction of the direct flights for years now, without success.
- President Obama said the intended direct flights hold great potential for both countries economically.
- President Kenyatta said this week that introducing the flights would boost business and tourism
President Barack Obama has said there are protocol and security issues that still need to be sorted out before direct flights between Kenya and America are launched.
Speaking at the State House in Nairobi on Saturday, Mr Obama said considerable progress has been made in efforts to have the flights introduced.
The visiting US President could not give any commitment on when exactly the flights are likely to become operational, firmly stating that there are issues that are to be squared out first.
“With respect to direct flights, there are very specific protocols and security issues that have to be worked through and sorted out,” he said while responding to questions from a journalist at a joint press briefing with President Uhuru Kenyatta.
“I don’t have a date certain in front me and I wouldn’t want to make a guess and then if we are late you would call me and say we lied,” he said.
The US President said America sent representatives from its Department of Transportation and Homeland Security to work with Kenyan officials and a degree of progress has been made.
Kenya has been pushing for the introduction of the direct flights for years now, without success.
President Kenyatta had earlier, ahead of Mr Obama’s visit, indicated that the issue of direct flights would form part of the talks with the visiting US president.
AUDIT BY AVIATION AUTHORITIES
Kenya failed an audit by American aviation authorities earlier this year that would have cleared it for the direct flights into America’s lucrative markets.
Both Kenya and the US have been conducting a technical audit to determine whether the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport was ready for the coveted Category 1 certification necessary for the flights debut.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the US National Transportation Safety Board and the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority were involved in the process which ended in a score of 78.42 per cent for Kenya from the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
It was the second time Kenya was flopping the test having scored 66 per cent in a previous audit in 2013, despite heavy investment intended for improvement of security at the airport, which is one of the conditions set by American aviation regulators for Kenya to meet before establishing the direct flights.
President Obama said the intended direct flights hold great potential for both countries economically.
“We anticipate if we can get all the issues squared away, this is something that has great potential and obviously would have a beneficial impact on US travel to Kenya both for business and tourism,” he stated.
President Kenyatta said this week that introducing the flights would boost business and tourism and expressed hope that President Obama’s visit would help secure an approval from the US regulatory authorities for their debut.
