Europe’s top low-cost airlines Ryanair and easyJet are set to fly to Kenya as the government strategizes on ways to boost the tourism sector.
The tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala told Bloomberg that the government intends to have the carriers fly to Mombasa, one of Kenya’s top tourist destinations. The initiative makes business sense because most tourists visiting Kenya come from European countries such as the UK, France, Germany, and Italy.
However, the two budget airlines have been accused of economizing on effectiveness in order to meet profit margins. For instance, easyJet has been blamed for constant cancellations, turning down compensation claims, and overbooking while Ryanair cancelled 18,000 flights last year for incorrectly scheduling vacation times for its pilots.
According to a study by Which, the two airlines and British Airways delayed the highest number of passenger flights in the year to June 2018.
Ryanair is headquartered in Dublin while easyJet is based in London.
A Win-Win Deal?
If the deal between the airlines and the Kenyan government work out, the average flight times for the two airlines will increase significantly according to Quartz Africa. The 9-hour flights to Mombasa will be a new territory for the two airlines which are used to short flights. easyJet flies for less than five hours from London to Egypt while Ryanair flies for nearly four hours from Dublin to Morocco.
However, the unglamorous nature of the airlines’ planes which feature narrow seats and limited conveniences could be a problem with longer trips.
Kenya’s tourism sector was affected by negative travel advisories during the post-election violence in 2007 and last year during a tense election season. Nevertheless, the sector has bounced back this year and the government wants to boost its performance even further by increasing aviation capacity.
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