Following years of failed audits and months of delay after the last audit finally put Jomo Kenyatta International Airport into the pass section, news has emerged overnight that Jomo Kenyatta International Airport has at last been cleared by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the coveted Category 1 status.
While it may take some time before actual direct flights will be launched, most likely by Kenya Airways and their SkyTeam alliance partner Delta, the legal foundation is now taken care of. Carriers wishing to offer direct or nonstop flights now have to get designation from their respective home countries and then apply for landing rights, in Kenya for Nairobi and possibly Mombasa, and in the United States at an airport of their choice.
Nekoliko zračnih luka u Africi ima ovu razinu odobrenja u skladu sa zahtjevima SAD-a, među njima su Addis Ababa, Johannesburg i Casablanca kao ključna zračna središta, a pridruživanje Nairobija ovom ekskluzivnom klubu bez sumnje će pomoći poboljšanju turizma i trgovine.
Sjedinjene Države već su se prošle godine pojavile kao najveće izvorno tržište Kenije za turiste, prestigavši UK odakle se charter letovi za Mombasu još uvijek nisu vratili na razine iz prošlih godina.
Kako se pokazalo da je to bila udarna vijest, dionici u turizmu nisu imali vremena reagirati u ovoj fazi.
