National carrier Kenya Airways will resume flights to Mogadishu, Somalia, with direct flights from Nairobi from February 14, 2024.
The flights were suspended in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
KQ Chief Commercial and Customer Officer Julius Thairu on Wednesday said: “We are eager to re-establish the link between Mogadishu and Nairobi through KQ. This move aligns with the increasing business and the growing number of air travel between Kenya and Somalia. Kenya Airways is committed to providing high-quality service for our customers.”
The resumption will offer travellers the convenience of two weekly flights, specifically on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The designated flight, KQ 362, will depart Nairobi at 14:00, ensuring passengers arrive in Mogadishu by 15:45 to ensure a seamless and efficient travel experience.
From Mogadishu to Nairobi, KQ 363 will also operate on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The return flight will depart Mogadishu at 16:35 and arrive in Nairobi at 18:20.
According to KQ, this carefully crafted schedule meets the needs of passengers and provides a reliable and punctual air travel option between the two cities.
The airline has offered connecting flights to the destinations via Nairobi through its partners to minimise possible disruptions. Kenya Airways has also maintained cargo services to the city, as well as offering charter flights on demand.
The news comes just days after Somalia was admitted into the East African Community (EAC) as the eighth member of the bloc.
The entry of the Horn of Africa nation is set to boost the EAC market to more than 300 million people.
“We have decided to admit the Federal Republic of Somalia under the treaty of accession,” outgoing EAC chair, Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye, said at a summit of the grouping in Tanzania last Friday.
Somalia – whose President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was at the summit – joined Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda in the regional bloc.
Somalia applied to join the EAC in 2012 and a verification mission was launched by the regional bloc on January 25, 2023, to assess its readiness.
Somalia shares a border with Kenya, having the longest national coastline in Africa of over 3,000km, linking Africa to the Arabian Peninsula.
Source: The East African