Italian billionaire Flavio Briatore wants the government to
introduce connecting flights for tourists from the JKIA to Malindi to ease travel.
Tourists from Europe and Italy have difficulties connecting to Malindi, once they land at the JKIA in Nairobi, as the schedule of domestic flights does not correspond with the timings of international flights.
Local and foreign investors are pushing for the quicker expansion of the runway, from 1.5 kms to 2.5 kms, to pave way for directs flight from Europe.
The expansion is ongoing but it is not clear when it will be completed.
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On Monday, Briatore
said it doesn’t matter how long the government takes to expand the airport but that connecting flights must be added to the schedules.
In an interview with journalists at Billionaire Resort, he noted it’s the duty of national carrier Kenya Airways to make it easier for tourists to travel to Malindi, which is a key destination.
“The government needs to create structures. What we are missing are connections between Nairobi and Malindi," he said, noting that in Dubai's case,
Emirates is marketing key destinations and ensuring travellers have access.
The billionaire, who has invested heavily in Malindi, added that in areas such as the Maldives, it takes tourists one to two hours to reach their destinations.
But
Briatore said they were happy with the stability achieved after the long elections season in 2017.
He noted Kenya lost many tourists due to the uncertainty that came with the elections, so the stability gives hope.
“Kenya was a big destination but during elections there were more than 80 per cent cancellations," he said.
After years of a push for the airport's expansion, other investors publicly shared their concerns with Tourism CS Najib Balala on March 2, during the
launch of Dream Gardens Resort,
which is one of Plan Hotels' properties in Malindi.
They expressed dissatisfaction with the manner in which the government is implementing the project.
Paolo Rosso,
Vice President of Plan Hotels World Resort,
said tourists waste many hours once they land at the Jomo Kenyatta international Airport in Nairobi.
"All domestic flights are scheduled for the morning making it difficult for foreign tourists to get connecting flights."
Rosso told Balala, who was the chief guest at the function, that tourists are forced to
go to Wilson Airport after landing from Europe because all flights for Malindi leave in the morning.
The Minister asked the investors to develop their products and upgrade their investments so as to attract tourists.
"Never wait for the government to implement projects as it does them at its own pace," he said. "Investors will continue incurring losses if they sit and wait for the government to develop infrastructure before they upgrade their facilities."
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