Tourism stakeholders at the Coast on Wednesday welcomed the resumption of passenger flight services.
By noon, three flights had already touched down at the Moi International Airport in Mombasa amid pomp and colour.
Kenya Tourism Federation chairman Mohammed Hersi said the region, which depends heavily on tourism, has borne the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since the outbreak, the tourism industry has lost about Sh80 billion in revenue.
Players in the Coast circuit of the industry say the region has suffered the biggest blow.
Hersi said the region also lost advance bookings but is optimistic this is the first major step towards recovery.
“We are glad that we are trying to get back our life. We are looking forward to growing the numbers to the ideal levels,” Hersi told the Star on the phone.
The first KQ flight landed in Mombasa at 11.01am with 93 passengers on board. It returned to Nairobi with 71 passengers.
Jambojet, a subsidiary of Kenya Airways, was the first flight to land at the airport at 8am with about 40 passengers on board. Fly540 was next to land with about 28 passengers.
Kenya Coast Tourism Association chairman Victor Shitaka said they have been encouraged by the first day of the flight services.
“This was a fantastic reopening of the skies,” Shitaka said.
Shitaka said the enthusiasm shown by the tourism industry partners is a sign of better things to come.
Kenya Airways managing director Allan Kilavuka said the booking for the first day of resumption of services exceeded expectations.
“The bookings were better than expected. We had a projection of about 40 per cent but we have surpassed the 50 per cent mark,” Kilavuka said.
He flew first flight to Mombasa in the company of Kenya Airports Authority acting managing director Alex Gitari.
It was the first flight for over 99 days since flight services were stopped due to the coronavirus pandemic.
During that time, Kilavuka said, the Kenya Airways lost about Sh10 billion in revenue.
Gitari said it is wonderful to see airports and airstrips across the country have come to life once again.
“Over the last three months, the airports and airstrips were like graveyards,” Gitari said.
Mombasa Deputy Governor William Kingi said Mombasa is happy to welcome visitors once more after having been locked down for over two months.
He said Mombasa had been hard hit by the closure of the airspace.
Tourism is one of the major revenue earners for the county and the Coast region as a whole.
“This resumption of flight services will mean the resumption of other businesses as well,” Kingi said.
Taxi operators at the airport were also happy to return to business, though they said it was still low on the first day.
Patrick Njoroge, a taxi driver at the airport, said they are happy that flights have resumed because it means a return to business for them.
“So far, I have not picked a passenger but we will. I am not worried about that,” Njoroge said. Only one of his three taxis operates at the airport.
Kingi said Mombasa is ready to host as many visitors as possible because they have in place measures to curb the spread of the Covid-19.
“We have a bed capacity of 450 with 12 dedicated ICU beds for patients,” he said.
Hersi and Shitaka encouraged the airlines to incentivise the flights.
“We are glad so far the ticket prices are reasonable. We hope this continues as we also look to incentivise even the international guests when international flights resume on August 1,” Hersi said.
Hersi and Kingi, however, called on visitors and locals to adhere strictly to the Covid-19 rules and directives issued by the Health ministry.
Bishop Moses Meeli, the Kajiado West subcounty administrator, who was on the KQ flight on Wednesday, said he is happy for the resumption of the flight services.
“Our economy is down and we need to do all we can as Kenyans to help bring it back up,” Meeli said.
He called on Kenyans to help the government fight the Covid-19 pandemic by adhering to the Health ministry directives.
“Let us not leave this to the government alone,” he said.
He said he paid Sh12,000 for a return ticket to Mombasa.
Mitchelle Kawira, a passenger on the KQ flight, however, worried that it was not practicable to keep distance in the plane.
“The flight was good. I am happy the skies have been opened. But the social distancing in the plane may not be achievable. Let us, as Kenyans, take personal precautions,” Kawira said.