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- Tanzania and Kenya have agreed to talk about their differences after a fight about flights.
- Tanzania banned Kenyan Airways from flying into Da er Salaam.
- This is in retaliation for Kenya blocking a request by Tanzania to operate cargo flights between Nairobi and third countries.
The foreign affairs ministers of Tanzania and Kenya have agreed to solve the impasse between the two countries' aviation companies in the next three days.
This after Tanzania declared it would stop Kenyan Airways (KQ) from flying between Nairobi and Dar es Salaam with effect from 22 January.
The decision was in direct response to Kenya declining a request by Tanzania to operate cargo flights between Nairobi and third countries.
In a statement, the director general at the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority, Hamza Johari, said this was to "reciprocate" Kenya's decision.
Tanzania claimed Kenya violated "fifth freedom" rights, which allow an airline to carry traffic between two countries outside its own if the flight originates or terminates in its own country.
This means a flight originating from Tanzania should be permitted to ply a route from Kenya to other countries if the flight originated from or ends in Tanzania.
Tanzania said the decision by Kenya violated Section 4 of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by both countries on 24 November 2016.
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The MOU for the rectification of bilateral air services between the two countries was reached since Kenya Airways, Astral Aviation, Jambojet, and Fly 540 - all Kenyan companies - operated scheduled flights into Tanzania.
On the other hand, Precision Air and Air Tanzania operated flights into Kenya.
"The agreement provides for multiple designations of airlines, unlimited frequencies and capacity, code sharing services, and a limited route schedule," the MOU read.
There are 33 weekly flights between Nairobi and Dar es Salaam but the sudden decision by Tanzania could disrupt them.
Tanzania's minister of foreign affairs and East African cooperation, January Makamba, said he had since spoken to his Kenyan counterpart, Musalia Mudavadi, over the matter.
Makamba added: "Restrictions of air travel between our countries and from any of our country to a third country shouldn't stand."
He said they were going to settle the matter "per existing agreements, within three days."
Mudavadi added: "There should therefore be no cause for alarm."
During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, in August 2020, Tanzania took a similar decision banning KQ flights because Kenya refused to remove Tanzania from a list of countries whose citizens would enter Kenya without being quarantined.The News24 Africa Desk is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The stories produced through the Africa Desk and the opinions and statements that may be contained herein do not reflect those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
