By Siago Cece
The charter flight arrival is an indication of recovery for
the ailing international tourism market source that has slumped since the
advent of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Eurowings Discover, a leisure carrier of the Lufthansa Group
touched down in Mombasa on Sunday at 5.15am, with 150 tourists on board.
Speaking in Mombasa after receiving the flight, Tourism
Principal Secretary Safina Kwekwe said that the resumption of the flight was an
indication that Kenya's international tourism was recovering.
"This development also gives us hope and reassures that
people are eager to travel and experience the world yet again, as a
destination, we are working to ensure we are ready to host tourists," she
said.
Ms Kwekwe said that with the new flights, this may see
Germany top the charts in terms of traffic as Kenya's tourism source market.
She added; "The government was committed to ensuring a
conducive environment for a flawless travel system."
German Ambassador Annette Gunlher said the move by Lufthansa
to have a direct flight to Mombasa was not just about tourism but improved
economic relations between the two countries.
"It is another testimony of the excellent relationship
between Kenya and Germany. German companies that come to Kenya come to stay and
I think this will not be a one-time thing, they have chosen to bring an airline
to Mombasa and will be happy to operate in Kenya. This is another sign of our
excellent relations," she said.
"It does a great favour in terms of promoting our
international business not just in Kenya but in the region. We will ensure that
that as an air operator, efforts will be made to ensure flawless operations by
Eurowings," Kenya Airports Authority Managing Director Alex Gitari said.
Eurowings Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) Helmit Woefel said
that the flight would be flying four times a week between Frankfurt and
Mombasa.
"We chose Kenya because it was active in ensuring the
recovery of tourism," he said adding that currently it will operate
twice-a-week frequency on Thursday and Sunday.
Kenya Tourism Board Acting CEO Allan Njoroge said Kenya had
put up enough measures in the travel and hotel sector to ensure that all
Covid-19 protocols were followed to give confidence to visitors on their health
safety.
"We hope to see the airline prosper and encourage more
others to come into the country," Mr Njoroge said.
Hotels at the Coast have recently been hit by a shortage of
international guests as the numbers of flights from Europe, a traditional
source market had reduced.
The flight arrival comes at a time when the peak of tourism
season is beginning after a downturn between April and mid-July.
Local tourism stakeholders led by the Kenya Association of
Hotelkeepers and Caterers (KAHC) National Vice Wasike Wasike said that this
showed that there was light at the end of the tunnel, they were looking forward
to more charter flights landing in Kenya.
"Germany has been an important source market. We have
wanted charters to come back to Kenya for a long time. They are starting to
come back a bit slowly. There was a time we were receiving 16 charters per
week, now we are doing only five to six," said Mr Wasike, who is also the
Group Operations Manager Heritage Hotels.
He added that as the world opens, the number of charter
flights were going to increase.
The Eurowings charter flights had been scheduled to land in
Mombasa in March 2021, but this was postponed due to Covid-19 movement
restrictions.
scece@ke.nationmedia.com
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