Tourism stakeholders want more international scheduled flights allowed to resume operations to the Coast region as the sector recovers gradually.
The tourism sector, which suffered a three-year slump, has shown signs of recovery since last July after the UK, the USA and France reversed travel advisories against parts of the Coast.
Since last November, the region has received numerous cruise ships and charter flights. However, the Moi International Airport in Mombasa is still receiving only three international carriers that operate scheduled flights - Ethiopian Airline, Turkish Airline and Rwanda Air. Kenya Airways, the national carrier, is the dominant operator of scheduled flights to the Coast.
Chairperson of the Kenya Coast Tourists Association, Mohamed Hersi, called on previous operators of such flights to resume business, noting that visitor numbers have improved.
He urged Air Arabia, Fly Emirates and Oman Air which halted flights to the region in 2004 to resume.
The veteran hotelier said international guests travelling for leisure, business, conferences and holidays have increased recently.
“Fly Dubai received its license and expects to begin scheduled flights in the next three months,” he said during a stakeholders meeting at Voyager Hotel.
Hersi, also CEO of the Heritage Hotels, said there are only about 21 scheduled flights to Mombasa every week.
“Turkish Airline flies five times every week into Mombasa, Ethiopian flies two planes daily to Mombasa; making 14 flights a week,” he said.
Ethiopian Airline, he said, connects Mombasa to more than 100 world cities and Turkish Airline connects the Kenyan Coast to a total of 21 cities across the globe.
“Turkish Airline connects Mombasa to seven European cities. We need more scheduled flights to connect us to more markets,” he said.
Hers said the number of visitors from the UK, Kenya's main source market, had drastically dropped in 2014, but hoteliers foresee a 100 per cent recovery within the next one year.