Following the highly successful first ever SPOTLIGHT VIRTUAL EXPO on 30 September which attracted 40 Exhibitors and 162 Buyers from 25 countriesDerek Houston has announced details for the next Spotlight Virtual to be held on Wednesday 04 and Thursday 05 November

Reports indicate that Regional travel within Africa is already seeing a re-bound as more and more airlines re-launch their flights into and around Africa.

While nothing can beat a face to face Workshop – for the moment VIRTUAL has become the new normal and a very dynamic way to communicate with your Trade partners within Africa and overseas.

Spotlight Virtual TravelExpo will promote Inter-regional travel within Africa (from Southern Africa to East & West Africa and vice versa); Outbound travel from Africa to Indian Ocean islands and overseas destinations (Europe, The Gulf etc) and Inbound Tourism from Overseas countries to Africa

Spotlight Virtual Travel Expo is designed to create a real Exhibition experience with B2B meetings and Pre – scheduled Appointments.

At the September Spotlight Virtual Expo 162 Buyers from 15 countries in Africa -(including 51 from East Africa) and 31 tour operators from ten overseas countries registered. Buyers attended from Kenya, Australia, USA, Zambia, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Italy, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Czech Republic, Romania, Ethiopia, Hungary, Poland, Sweden, UK, Netherlands, Nigeria, Finland, Israel, India, Uganda, Canada and Mozambique.

We have decided to extend the workshop to two full days and also open the meeting slots from early morning to late evening to enable buyers from all time zones to attend at times convenient for them.

Houston expects 20 exhibitors to participate and over 200 Trade buyers to register from Africa and overseas countries. “We have very strict criteria for buyer registration commented Derek “and we do not allow sellers to sign up as buyers!”

For further information on exhibiting or registering as a buyer please contact  Dere@houstonmarketing.co.za or visit www.houstonmarketing.co.za

Kenya has moved the region closer to achieving an open airspace following the decision by the Cabinet to approve establishment, implementation and management of the East African Community (EAC) Seamless Upper Airspace.

The development, which has been elusive for many years, comes at a time the call for creation of a common airspace has been getting louder from different stakeholders who have argued that the move will lower high cost of air transport in the region.

If implemented, the move will enable interoperability and foster seamlessness for the Air Navigation Services (ANS) and enhancement of collaborative activities in the provision of ANS in member states.

This will also lead to implementation of national aeronautical information databases development and operationalisation of the centralised regional aeronautical information database.

The treaty was signed on November 30, 1999 and entered into force on July 7 in 2000, with three original partner States comprising Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Burundi, Rwanda acceded to EAC Treaty on June 2007 and became full members from July 2007. Republic of South Sudan was officially admitted in 2016.

The cabinet, led by President Kenyatta, approved the memorandum of understanding on the establishment of the seamless upper space in last Thursday’s meeting.

International Air Transport Association (IATA) has before pointed out that the reason air tickets have remained high in Africa is lack of a common airspace.

According to IATA, African countries need to fast-track the agreements that have been signed, aimed at introducing a single airspace to enable passengers enjoy reduced cost of travel.

“Air travel costs remain high in Africa because of lack of open skies as each country tries to protect their airlines. This eventually affects the passengers,” said, Regional Vice President of IATA for Africa and the Middle- East Muhammad Ali Albakri in an earlier interview.

Mr Albakri said African nations are hurting their economies by protecting their national carriers by their reluctance to implement open sky policy.

“With open skies policy, it means that more airlines will fly and the cost of air ticket will be affordable. This means that countries’ economies will benefit from this,” he said.

OPEN SKIES

In 1988, a number of African countries came together with the view of creating an open airspace for ease of movement and boost trade on the continent in what was called Yamoussoukro Declaration.

In 2000, the decision was endorsed by heads of state and government at the Organisation of African Unity — now African Union — and became fully binding in 2002.

However, to date, not much has been done in regard to adoption of the open skies policy by member states as 14 nations have not ratified the treaty.

African nations are protecting their airlines from stiff competition, putting to doubt whether the dream of open skies policy will be achieved.

For instance, Kenya and Tanzania last year denied other airlines the rights to fly to a third country other than their hub in what appeared to be a deliberate move to protect their domestic carriers.

Kenya Civil Aviation in gazette notice December last year failed to grant permission to Saudi Arabian Airlines and Ethiopian Airlines who had sought permission to vary their licenses.

Saudi Airlines wanted variation of its existing licence to include the routes Jeddah/Nairobi/Maastricht and Jeddah/Nairobi/Liege, however, this request was not granted.

On the other hand, Ethiopian Airlines, the fiercest competitor of Kenya Airways, wanted variation of its existing air service licence to include aircraft type B737F, which was also denied. Source: https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/corporate/shipping-logistics/kenya-approves-move-eac-seamless-airspace-2480094

The national carrier has expanded its codeshare partnership with Delta Airlines as the carrier prepares to resume New York flights later this month.

Kenya Airways and the US-based carrier have expanded their current codeshare to three more points in America.

The partnership will see KQ expand its current network in North America, offering customers flying into Dallas, Washington DC and San Francisco a one-stop travel option via New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport.

“The one-stop service via New York into North America is critical, especially in the current environment as Kenya Airways continues to focus on offering safe travel by reducing the amount of connections needed by passengers connecting to and from Africa,” said KQ in a statement.

In addition to the three destinations, KQ is currently connecting guests to Columbus, Phoenix, Charlotte, Denver, Orlando, Houston, Miami, Chicago, Raleigh Durham, Montreal and Toronto, among other destinations in North America through the codeshare arrangement with Delta.

Delta and Kenya Airways are both members of the SkyTeam alliance. Frequent Flyers will, therefore, earn and redeem miles on both airlines, while Elite Plus travellers benefit from SkyPriority services.

KQ had announced that it would resume direct flights to New-York from Nairobi on October 29 with a slimmed-down operation of two weekly flights after a six-month freeze due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The carrier will initially operate flights on Wednesdays and Sundays, down from a frequency of five before the global corona outbreak that forced it to ground flights.

KQ suspended international flights in March following a surge in cases of Covid-19 that saw countries across the world close their airspace for passenger aircraft.

International flights resumed on August 1 with KQ slashing the routes that it used to fly before the pandemic by nearly half as demand remains low.

Source: https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/corporate/companies/kq-delta-airlinesexpand-america-codeshare-deal-2481496

Domestic carriers have doubled flight frequency on nearly all routes, riding on improved demand for air travel following the reopening of the country from a Covid-19 lockdown.

A spot check shows that several airlines including Jambojet and Safarilink have upped the flights per week on routes such as Kisumu, Mombasa, Eldoret, Malindi and Diani, in what look set to boost their revenues.

Passengers travelling to routes such as Kisumu, Eldoret, Ukunda and Malindi can now fly two times per day from their hubs in Nairobi up from once per day when the carriers resumed operation in Mid-July.

“We have increased our frequencies because we realised there is a huge desire for domestic travel after the Covid-19 restrictions were partially lifted by the state,” said Safailink chief executive Alex Avedi.

“We are also not pricing for profit at the moment. The air ticket we are charging is meant to keep operations going.”

Under the new changes, Safailink is flying to Kisumu 14 times per week up from seven. This includes an additional evening flight to Kisumu on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Safarilink has also increased its frequency on the Diani and Vipingo route to 14 times per week up from seven.

It has also introduced flights to Malindi where it is flying seven times per week.

Jambojet is also flying to Eldoret, Ukunda and Malindi 14 times per week up from seven times.

Jambojet is, however flying to Kisumu 24 times per week up from 14 when it resumed operations in July. It is also flying to Mombasa 32 times per week up from 21 per week.

The increase in frequencies by Jambojet comes barely a month after the carrier increased fares in five of its domestic routes including Kisumu, Mombasa, Eldoret and Malindi and Diani.

Passengers going to Kisumu, Mombasa, Eldoret, and Malindi have been paying a one-way minimum fare of Sh6,600 up from Sh4,800 on the routes from Nairobi since last month, reflecting a 37.5 percent increase.

The carrier’s passenger capacity has increased from 30 percent in the weeks after Kenya resumed domestic flights in July 1 to 58 percent in September.

“We are seeing a slight increase in passenger numbers flying the domestic routes. This is the reason why we are increasing our frequencies to accommodate more numbers,” said Jambojet acting managing director Karanja Ndegwa.

Meanwhile, the Kenya Association of Air Operators (KAAO) said its members are yet to receive the Sh3 billion government bailout it had requested six months ago.

Source: https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/economy/domestic-carriers-doubleflights-on-rising-demand-2481470

Vegans and vegetarians have become accustomed to getting the short end of the (gluten-free?) breadstick from many airlines.

Some – especially in Asia and the middle east – are better than others when catering for non-carnivores, and the gap continues to close: even Singapore Airlines is now offering a vegan version of its signature satay sticks, using plant-based Impossible Meat.

Qatar Airways has now taken a confident culinary stride forward with the launch of ‘fully vegan’ à la carte menu in business class.

Dishes on offer include smoked moutabel, spiral courgettes and arrabbiata sauce, tofu and spinach tortellini, asian barbecue tofu, noodles, scallions and shiitake, fried tofu with vegetable tajine, cauliflower couscous and kalamata bruschetta, and chickpea flour omelette.

However, the airline says this isn’t just for vegans – the move is designed to cater to increasing demand for plant-based food.

“We always strive to provide our customers with authentic and indulgent experiences in the skies,” says Qatar Airways Group CEO His Excellency Akbar Al Baker.

“We are delighted to incorporate a vegan main course choice to our on-board menu, offering our passengers yet another lifestyle choice that redefines the expectations from a five-star airline.”

Qatar Airways’ vegan business class menu is available on all flights from the airline’s hub at Doha’s Hamad International Airport, and selected flights into Doha. Source: https://www.executivetraveller.com/news/qatar-airways-vegan-business-class-menu

Budget carrier Jambojet is yet to issue a date for resumption of international flights two months since the international borders were opened.

The carrier’s chief executive officer Ndegwa Karanja says the company has not settled on a date when to resume the Kigali and Entebbe flights.

This comes at a time when Uganda, which was the remaining country in East African Community to open up its international airspace, lifted the ban last week allowing international flights to fly back to Entebbe.

“We still don’t have a date when we are resuming Entebbe and Kigali flights,” Mr Karanja told the Business Daily in an interview.

International flights, which had been grounded by Covid-19 in March this year, resumed on August 1 having been preceded by domestic flights on July 15.

Jambojet said that it was delaying international flights because of low demand and strict Covid-19 requirement on compliance before the citizens from other countries are admitted in foreign countries.

Rwanda’s Ministry of infrastructure, for instance announced that passengers entering Kigali will be required to take a second test upon arrival with the results expected within 24 hours. This will be in addition to the test that they would have taken in their home countries in the last 72 hours.

Kigali will require international passengers arriving in Rwanda to quarantine in selected hotel rooms that cost between $20 to $40 dollars a day, implying that travellers will have to incur double cost to enter the country.

East African citizens are required to pay $50 for the Covid-19 test while foreigners coming outside of the region will have to part with $100 for the procedure.

The carrier suspended flight to Rwanda and Uganda in March citing low passenger numbers to these regional routes.

Source: https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/corporate/companies/jambojet-yetset-date-for-international-flights-2480286

The Kenya Association of Travel Agents (KATA), the professional member body for certified travel agents in Kenya, today announced that it has partnered with PTG travel to provide KATA certified agents with preferential access to concierge transfer services for their clients.

Through this strategic partnership, PTG travel will provide KATA certified agents with a platform that has been localized for the Kenya market. Agencies across Kenya can now take advantage of the ease and simplicity of the platform to enable them book transfer services for their clients seamlessly. PTG travel operates a 24-7 call center with a dedicated concierge team based at the JKIA airport that will ensure personalized services delivery for the clients of the KATA certified agents.

 “We are excited to partner with PTG travel,” said Agnes Mucuha, CEO of the Kenya Association of Travel Agents. “It’s clear that travel agents in Kenya are looking for new affordable solutions to attract and retain their clients. With PTG travel, we’re putting the power in the hands of agencies to offer their clients concierge transfer services with a personalized touch. PTG travel is an indigenous Kenyan owned company that has proven that they have the best expertise in local market transfer services needs and can provide first-class technical support and customer success service”.

“We believe that the best way to promote the recovery of the travel sector is via the PTG travel concierge transfer services. PTG travel is the best in the corporate transfers services, our technology platform and customer support expertise make our partnership a clear win-win,” said Justus Kirigua, Chief Executive Officer, PTG travel.

The KATA certified agents handle over 80% of the passenger number bookings made on Airlines operating in Kenya.  They serve as professional advisors to travelers looking into traveling to key business and leisure destinations globally. Following the resumption of the air services in Kenya, KATA has continued to witness a strong recovery in the domestic travel and regional travel. International travel volumes have been growing week on week as travel restrictions are lifted and as traveler confidence increases.

The Kenya Association of Travel Agents in partnership with Dubai Tourism this week held the second of a series of Dubai Update sessions with her members. The Dubai Update Sessions, features Airlines, Dubai hotels and DMCs. Kenya Airways, Jumeirah Living Marina Gate, Atlantis Palm Dubai, Arabian Oryx Travel and Tourism LLC were in the meeting to engage with the KATA Certified travel agents.
The session was very productive and a great opportunity for the growth of the agent’s business.
Giveaways were also in order to the participants courtesy of Jumeirah Living Marina Gate, Atlantis Palm Dubai, Arabian Oryx Travel and Tourism LLC.

APG East Africa have announced that they will no longer be the GSA for Air Canada in the region (Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania) effective 1^st October 2020.

The GSA contract came to an end and APG East Africa stated that for now Air Canada will not be appointing a General Sales Agent in the East Africa Territory.

” We take this opportunity to thank all travel agents who have been very supportive to APG on all Air Canada matters and request your continued support to Air Canada”, said Mr. Phil Mwakitawa, Managing Director and CEO of Air Promotion Group East Africa.