The list of countries where Tanzania, a key partner in the East African Community, is not named has, however, instigated fights in the region. The Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority has consequently banned Kenya Airways from flying to Dar Es Salaam.
Uganda Airlines can now fly to Kenya after more than three months of closed airspace to commercial spaces. Courtesy photo.
Ugandans flying toKenya will not be quarantined as the country
opens its airspace to commercial flights today.
Kenya released a list of countries whose residents are allowed in Kenya and
won’t be quarantined. This effectively means that Uganda Airlines, the national
carrier, can resume flights to different Kenya destinations including Nairobi
and Mombasa.
Travellers to Kenya will have to pass a temperature test on arrival and must
have been tested for the virus within 96 hours before travel, Kenya said.
This marks the resumption of commercial flights in the region with RwandAir,
the national carrier of Rwanda, also resuming flights on Saturday. Entebbe
International Airport is not yet open which means foreigners are not allowed to
come into the country.
The list of countries where Tanzania, a key partner in the East African
Community, is not named has, however, instigated fights in the region. The
Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority has consequently banned Kenya Airways from
flying to Dar Es Salaam.
In a letter last night, the TCAA said: “the authority regrets to inform you
that, on a reciprocal basis, the Tanzanian government have decided to nullify
its approval for Kenya Airways flights between Nairobi and
Dar/Kilimanjaro/Zanzibar effective August 1, 2020, until further notice."
This is not the first time Kenya and Tanzania are going up in arms, an
indicator of the shaky ground the EAC integration is standing.
In May, Tanzania said the government said Kenya was declaring its truck drivers
coronavirus positive to scare tourists from going there.
Tanzania then said 15 of its truck drivers that had been blocked from entering
Kenya after reportedly testing positive for coronavirus disease, had tested negative
in Tanzania.
The EAC members have shown a disjointed approach to the response to the
pandemic which has bred mistrust.
While Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda instituted lockdown and share information on
testing and positive cases, Tanzania and Burundi have refused to say they
didn’t have the virus in their territories. The lack of information on what is
happening in Tanzania and Burundi leaves serious questions on how to deal with
them.
List of countries identified and announced yesterday from which travellers will
be exempt from quarantine are Canada, South Korea, Namibia, Uganda,
China, Rwanda, Morocco, Japan, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Switzerland, The United
States of America (except for California, Florida, and Texas), United Kingdom,
France, Germany, Netherlands, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Italy.