The Kenya Coast is from September expected to receive more charter flights from Ukraine, flying directly to Moi International Airport Mombasa.
In April and May, Mombasa received several charter flights from Kiev, Ukraine.
Ukrainian ambassador to Kenya Pravednyk Andrii on Tuesday said Kenya should expect at least 10 more charter flights from September to December, which is Kenya’s high season in tourism.
“According to plans there will be 10 Ukraine charter flights from September until the end of the year and if all goes well as we expect, there will be more charter flights coming to Kenya in 2022,” he said.
The ambassador said they are in constant communication with other Ukrainian tourism operators to bring more guests to Kenya so that the number of Ukrainian tourists can grow.
County Tourism chief officer Innocent Mugabe said Mombasa has a direct connection with Ukraine, through a sister cities agreement.
“There is a lot that is taking place in terms of cultural exchange, investment opportunities and peer learning between the two cities. Mombasa investment is ready and therefore we are inviting investors from Ukraine to our region,” he said.
Mugabe said there is a lot that Mombasa can learn from Odessa and Ukraine, especially in the sector of exploitation of the blue economy and in the sector of manufacturing.
The Kenya Coast has continued to receive more international guests, despite the world travel disruption by the outbreak of Covid-19 last year.
Earlier this year, Mombasa received the first ever Romanian charter flight to the region, followed by another Ukraine-operated charter flight Bees Airline.
However, the Romanian and the Ukraine charter flights are yet to resume another circuit to the region.
So far, there are two weekly charter flights that land at the Moi International Airport in Mombasa; Tui Poland and Bulgaria.
Mombasa is also receiving two scheduled flights, the Ethiopia Airline and Eurowings Discover, the newest leisure airline within the Lufthansa Group.
Lufthansa Group, a German airline, launched its first commercial flight from Frankfurt to Mombasa on Sunday.
The flights are expected to increase to four by March next year.
Two more scheduled flights; Turkish Airline and Qatar Airways are expected to resume flying the Mombasa route from August and October respectively.
They had ceased operations due to the outbreak of Covid-19.
-Edited by SKanyara
