Kenya Retaliates by Suspending All Inbound and Transit Passenger Flights from Dubai

Kenya has suspended all inbound and transit passenger flights from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for seven days.

Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) Director-General Gilbert Kibe on Tuesday told Business Daily that the move was in retaliation for a similar ban by Dubai.

"Inbound and transit passenger flights from UAE are suspended for a period of seven days. We are doing this to reciprocate a ban on Kenyan passenger flights to UAE," Kibe said.

The ban, which took effect on Monday night, does not affect cargo flights from Dubai into Kenya.

Dubai banned all passenger and transit flights from Kenya last month over fake Covid-19 PCR tests.

Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) said many travelers arriving in the Gulf state from Nairobi tested positive for coronavirus despite carrying negative test results.

It emerged that rogue Ministry of Health officials and private medical testing centers were colluding with travelers to issue false Covid-19 PCR results to aid travel to the UAE. Last week, Kibe said authorities were investigating the matter with a view of arresting and prosecuting the culprits.

DCAA initially announced a 48-hour ban on all inbound flights from Kenya on December 20th, 2021. The ban, which does not affect cargo freights and passenger flights from Dubai to Nairobi, was later extended until further notice.

Comments

Kenya should not even be…

Bobby Kibe (not verified) Tue, 01/11/2022 @ 11:59am

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Kenya should not even be retaliating but should
instead be thanking the Dubai Civil Aviation for exposing the rot in our citizens and some government officials. At times I am truly ashamed to be identified with Kenya.

You right. Whoever said the…

JustMe (not verified) Tue, 01/11/2022 @ 03:31pm

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You right. Whoever said the devil is in the details....I was calling for retaliation before I got the details...now; am embarrassed and kinda ashamed to be Kenyan..

NOPE! This has nothing to do…

Get a grip (not verified) Tue, 01/11/2022 @ 03:32pm

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NOPE! This has nothing to do with COVID. The timing of the Emirates ban coinciding with GOK refusing to increase Emirates flights to Kenya is HIGHLY suspicious. Also, from a PR perspective, this was handled poorly. There were so many options before a complete ban. They could have tested passengers themselves before each flight. They could have alerted the Kenyan government regarding false test results so they could try to rectify the issue. Not to mention they didn't tell passengers initially why they were banning flights AND they weren't re-booking people. There are people I know who were supposed to fly out December 23 and are still in Kenya because your only option is to buy another ticket (not everyone is in a position to do so). Plus other African countries are banned as well - are they also cheating??? Emirates was way out of line here.

Iam with you on this @ Bobby…

Maxiley (not verified) Tue, 01/11/2022 @ 04:59pm

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Iam with you on this @ Bobby Kibe. If this indeed is a retaliation, it is misplaced. I would be proper "revenge" only if passengers from Dubai were landing in Kenya with fake Covid 19"clearence.
Let's not thumb our chests and deceive ourselves that we have flexed some muscle. We should actually be worried about how these positive passengers were allowed to land in Dubai with what seems to be fake negative tests.On this the Arabs are did the right thing. This is a health concern,and not afinancial impediment.