Kenya Airways gets air traffic rights in US; paves way for direct flights
Aviation - Kenya Airways (KQ) has crossed a major hurdle after it was granted air traffic rights to the United States’ airspace thus breaking ground for direct flights to the US.
Jul 12, 2017: Kenya Airways (KQ) has crossed a major hurdle after it was granted air traffic rights to the United States’ airspace thus breaking ground for direct flights to the US.
Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said that Kenya Airways now awaits other crucial licenses to see it fly direct airlines to the US by March 2018.
These crucial licenses include Air Service License, which will give the airline commercial approval and the Air Operating Certificate, which gives it technical authority to operate to the US.
Further, KQ is yet to get the go-ahead from the US-Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) before commencing direct airlines to America.
Kenya inched closer to flying direct flights to the US after its largest Airport Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) attained “Category one” status on February 23, 2017, having met US authorities standards.
Kenya’s main airport was set to meet eight critical elements in the IASA assessments protocol that touched on on primary aviation legislation, specific operating regulations, state civil aviation system and safety oversight functions.
Others include technical personnel qualification and training, technical guidance, provision of safety critical information, licensing, certification, authorization and approval obligations, surveillance obligations and resolution of safety concerns.
The government has been diligently working to upgrade the JKIA, with expenditure of Sh1.3 billion for purchases of new security equipment and Sh9 billion to build Terminal 1 and Terminal Two.
