Ethiopian Airlines to petition Kenya Aviation Authority

June 26, 2006

By Reuben Olita in Nairobi

ETHIOPIAN Airlines said last week that it would petition Kenya’s transport ministry over Kenya Civil Aviation Authority’s (KCAA) delay in offering them landing rights at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi.
The airline had scheduled the Nairobi-Entebbe-Bujumbura route flights to resume on June 4, but owing to undisclosed reasons KCAA has postponed it indefinitely.
The airline’s Nairobi regional amanager, Solomon Debebe, said the memorandum of understanding between aeronautical authorities of Kenya and Ethiopia and COMESA agreement mandated them to operate within the regional blocs.
“We used to operate the same routes until November 2005 but stopped on our own volition.
“However, our decision to resume the same flights has met strong resistance,” he said.
A KCAA official admitted that they were still holding Ethiopian Airlines application.
He said they were considering reviewing the two agreements that had cleared the airline to ply Comesa routes.
Sources claimed Kenya Airways was involved in the delay because thit was likely to be out-competed on the Entebbe-Nairobi route.
This is mainly because KQ charges up to $366 for a return ticket on economy class whereas Ethiopian Airlines were set to charge just $200 for the same service.
Debebe denied this but urged KCAA to conform to the COMESA spirit.
and bilateral air service agreements between the two nations.
ns and grant them the rights.
Kampala sources said Ethiopian Airlines could also retaliate by using their government to stop KQ from flying to Addis Ababa and Asmara in Eritrea. KQ operates daily flights to Addis Ababa and Asmara.
“We strongly feel that operating to Entebbe and beyond, but within Comesa region, would enhance capacity, a choice to customers through having more frequencies and subsequently better service,” Debebe said.
Last year, industry players in Kenya complained that the fare by KQ to travel in the economy class to Entebbe from Nairobi was twice expensive than the same on Nairobi-Mombasa route yet it takes less than one hour to cover the same distances. It was also the most expensive route in the world per kilometre.
Ethiopian airlines have a long tradition of pioneering air transport in Africa. The airline marked its 60th anniversary on May 5 with the launch of E-ticketing on Addis-Ababa-Nairobi route.
As part of its growth, the airline in March commenced flights to Dakar and Libreville and to Brussels, bringing to over 80 international and domestic destinations.

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