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Open sky policy to make flights cheaper in East Africa
Passengers wait at Entebbe International Airport Departures lounge last month. Photo by Rachel Mabala
What you need to know:
Historical. Kenya and Rwanda which have national couriers are at an advantage than Uganda which has none.
East Africa is working towards realising an open-sky policy. This will reduce on air fares, restrictions and taxes.
Open sky policy involves giving flying permits to airlines from foreign countries.
However, Kenya and Rwanda are at an advantage since they have national fliers. Uganda has none.
Tourist consultant and operator, Geoffrey Baluku, argues that by Uganda not having a national courier, it restricts it in determining flow of tourists.
If this comes through, the open-sky policy will settle qualms of hoteliers like Rashid Kiyimba, proprietor of Brovad Sand Lodge in Kalangala, who decries expensive air fares as an impediment to growing tourism in the East African region.
“We are our own problem. Kenya Airways is charging the region more than it charges to destinations in Europe. As an agent, I find it cheaper to market Dubai than the East African region yet the biggest business is ideally here,” Kiyimba observes.
Expensive fares
Swahili Beach Resort general manager Jeff Mukolwe says a tourist gets more value from flying to Dubai than to the coast and as such more Kenyans prefer travelling to South Asia than at home because it is cheaper.
Mike Macharia, the chief executive officer of Kenya Association of Hotel Keepers, an advocate of the open-sky policy, argues that airlines can fly to any city within the region.
Rwandair is already flying regional. But tourism or travellers have an option of low-cost fliers.
Option of low-cost careers
Carmen Nibigira, coordinator of East African Tourism Platform (EATP), says in the face of expensive airlines like Kenya Airways, travellers have the option of low-cost careers like Fastjet and Fly540.
“Fastjet has just got a licence to operate from Dar es Salaam to Nairobi. It can take you from Dar to South Africa for $300 (about Shs1million). Fly540 operating from Nairobi and now doing flights into Entebbe,” Macharia adds.
Fastjet Plc is a British-based holding company for a group of low-cost carriers that operates worldwide while Fly540 is a low-cost airline based in Nairobi, Kenya, that operates domestic and international passenger and freight services.
Mukolwe argues that airlines are key partners to the tourism sector. “They have come on board. Rwandair was an obvious choice. I am looking at meeting with Rwandair to see how we can partner and work together,” he adds.
Macharia says EATP has suggested the revival of railway transport but the body has met some resistance between Kenya and Uganda because of political reasons.
“Rwanda has welcomed the idea. If you have a train that can transport you from any of these countries to another, in two to three hours, it would be an alternative to air transport,” he adds.
In Europe, the Eurostar moves from city to city.
It is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels.
All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel.
