KLM starts flights Amsterdam-Mombasa Nov

BY BONFACE OTIENO
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• Starting November 2nd, the airline will fly twice a week from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam to Mombasa with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, with a loop from Mombasa to Nairobi.
• KLM will join a number of European airlines such as Eurowings, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group, which currently flies from Frankfurt via Mombasa to Zanzibar.

Dutch national airline KLM will launch direct flights from Amsterdam to the Kenyan coast in November, giving the tourism industry a sigh of relief, which is currently recovering from the effects of Covid-19.

Starting November 2nd, the airline will fly twice a week from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam to Mombasa with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, with a loop from Mombasa to Nairobi.

KLM will join a number of European airlines such as Eurowings, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group, which currently flies from Frankfurt via Mombasa to Zanzibar.

“The maiden flight will take place on November 2, 2021,” said Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala yesterday.

“The Netherlands is one of the best networked air travel countries in the world and offers unparalleled access to European tourism markets. The Kenyan Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife welcomes this step. “

Data from the 2021 Economic Survey shows Kenya made $ 91.7 billion last year, up from $ 163.6 billion in 2019 when the coronavirus pandemic hit one of the country’s largest foreign exchange brokers.

Kenya suspended international and domestic flights and banned social gatherings in March last year after the first case of Covid-19 disease was reported and operations ceased in the tourism sector.

The suspension of international and domestic flights lasted four months through July, causing the number of vacationers to drop by 1.15 million – the largest decrease based on the purpose of the tourist visit.

The number of business travelers and those passing through, for other purposes of visiting, also fell.

The number of tourists fell by 1.45 million to 579,600 last year due to the suspension of flights, while vacationers fell 89 percent to 134,900.