Kenya Airways resumes domestic flights amid strict pandemic measures

Kenya Airways #ticker:KQ has resumed domestic flights on July 15, amid strict measures to prevent spreading of Covid-19, after halting operations for 99 days.

The two inaugural flights were made from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi to Mombasa and Kisumu at 10am and 10.30am respectively, marking the official return of operations at the airline.

But for travellers, the environment at airports and aboard aircrafts has changed due to drastic steps that have been taken to prevent the spread of the disease.

For instance, passengers have to wash and sanitise their hands severally from the main gate up to the point of boarding planes, pass through temperature testing points and wear masks all the time.

Sitting and queueing positions have also been rearranged to ensure social distancing, with signs placed at different points for passengers to know where to stand or sit, and reminding them to wear masks.

Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia led the inauguration of resumption of flights and said that the government would rely on their performance to decide if it would resume international flights.

“It is up to the KQ management to ensure it uses this period to grow demand. If the performance of domestic flights will be poor, we may have to reschedule reopening of international flights,” said Mr Macharia.

While on board, passengers are not offered meals was the case and are only offered water. Suspension of meals is one of the measures placed for resumption of local flights.

KQ Managing Director Allan Kilavuka said already there were positive signs that demand would rise, saying the second flight to Mombasa (scheduled for Wednesday afternoon) is fully booked.