Kenya and Somalia have signed a bilateral air services agreement handing a major boost to Kenya Airways that has been raring to launch flights to the country.
Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said the deal now 'opens' the airspaces of the two countries for direct flights.
"This agreement means that airlines will be designated to fly to Mogadishu and Nairobi...but, this will depend on the designations that will be done by respective ministries across the country," Murkomen said.
Speaking Wednesday during the signing of the agreement which followed months of negotiations with the Somalian authorities, the CS noted this will not only open door for the national carrier but also other airlines.
KQ, Murkomen stated, will now be required to write to the ministry for it to get the necessary air transport approvals.
The deal, he noted, with see the two countries support each other in terms of safety and security in the two airspaces.
It is anchored on traffic rights, frequency and capacity, code-share and the Technical Cooperation Agreement (TCA) between the countries.
"It makes us operate the way other civilised nations operate under the International Civil Aviation Authority and the Chicago convention that defines our relationship as countries on the use of airspace," he added.
Kenya is a signatory to several air services agreements that facilitates how it designates airlines coming to the country.
The agreement states that on the frequency and capacity, the designated airlines of each party may operate seven weekly frequencies for passenger flights on specified routes while designated airlines operating cargo flights may operate unlimited frequencies.
Technical cooperatives require that the Kenya civil aviation authority (KCAA) and Somali enhance cooperation on capacity building, personnel training and experience sharing.
Kenya's main exports to Somalia include miraa.
KQ's approval to fly to Mogadishu has been pending for years now.
Somalia initially protested over Nairobi’s strict aviation rules that required stopovers in Wajir, in northeastern Kenya, for security checks.
The carrier suspended its plans to launch the flights to Hargeisa in Somaliland in May 2021 over what it termed as a lack of requisite "clearance and approvals".
"We currently do not have any flights in operation, contrary to information circulating on social media," Kenya Airways said in a statement.