The East African nation of Kenya, has made public its suspension of all cargo flights as well as commercial flight to and from Somalia.
The suspension first took effect on the 11th of May 2021 and will continue until the 9th of August 2021.
The decision to suspend said flights will affect all scheduled flights and chartered flights to and from Somalia.
The decision by Kenya will however exempt all flights from Somalia that are only passing through the Kenyan airspace to go to other destinations.
All military flights which are not within the jurisdiction of the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA), will also be exempted.
The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) made it known via a statement that, “All flights between the two countries are suspended except medical evacuation flights and United Nations flights on humanitarian missions only.”
The airlines which are more likely to be affected by the new suspension will include those who make use of the routes between Kenya and Somalia. These airlines are Freedom Airline Express (4F, Nairobi Wilson), African Express Airways (XU, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta), Jubba Airways, and Ocean Airlines (Somalia) (Mogadishu). The cargo carriers that are likely to be affected are Safe Air (K3, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta), Skyward Express (OW, Nairobi Wilson), and Astral Aviation (8V, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta). This is according to the Ch-aviation schedules module.
Somalia recently made it known that that its diplomatic ties with Kenya had been restored. This was coming after said relations were severed on the 15th of December 2020 and an accusation was made that Kenya was interfering in or with its political affairs.
The restoration of diplomatic ties between Kenya and Somalia was achieved after a mediation by Qatar. Somalia’s earlier decision to severe diplomatic ties with Kenya occurred after Kenya hosted the leadership of Somaliland. Somaliland is a breakaway state that is not recognized by the central government in Mogadishu.
Somalia has overtime expressed its concerns over what it sees as interference by Kenya, in regions that are beyond its borders. Kenya has also accused Somalia of using it as a scapegoat for its own political problems.
Officials from Somalia however made it clear that the resumption of relations would not involve the lifting of the ban on the trade of Miraa or discussions regarding the maritime boundary dispute which is before the International Court of Justice and is waiting for a verdict.
The Khat business has been quite lucrative for Farmers. Before the suspension commenced as much as 15 flights carrying the stimulant carried out deliveries in a number of regions in Somalia per day. With the ongoing suspension, farmers will be missing out on millions of dollars in the earnings they could have gotten from doing business in Somalia.
Somalia however opened its doors in 2020 to flights from Ethiopia that transport Khat. It is reported that those who are involved in the supply chain of the narcotic stimulant have moved their business operations to Ethiopia. A figure of around 4 flights that transport Khat, get to Somalia from Ethiopia everyday.
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