Tanzania bans Kenyan flights from its airspace till further notice

Flights from Kenya will not be allowed into the Tanzanian airspace, The Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) said in a statement on Friday.

The decision, the authority said, was arrived at on reciprocal basis after Kenya failed to include Tanzania to the list of countries whose passengers will be allowed into Kenya.

“The authority regrets to inform you that, on a reciprocal basis, the Tanzanian government has decided to nullify its approval for Kenya Airways flights between Nairobi and Dar/Kilimanjaro/Zanzibar effective August 1, 2020 until further notice,” the statement read.

On Friday, Kenya added 7 more countries to its list of countries whose passengers will be allowed into the country when international flights resume on August 1.

Flights from the United States of America (except for California, Florida and Texas; United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, Qatar, United Arab Emirates ,Italy will now be allowed into the country.

Apart from China and Zimbabwe, other countries allowed to operate flights to Kenya are South Korea, Japan, Canada, Ethiopia, Switzerland, Rwanda, Uganda, Namibia, and Morocco.

According to Transport CS James Macharia, agreed protocol dictates that passengers who will arrive with a PCR-based COVID-19 negative certificate and body temperature not exceeding 37.5°C will be exempt from quarantine.

“They should not have a persistent cough, difficulty in breathing or other flu-like symptoms and must have been tested 96 hours before travel,” the CS said.

He however noted that this is not a blanket approval and there is an initial list of countries from which passengers will be allowed entry into Kenya.