Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta directed that International air travel reopens starting Saturday August 1st 2020 upon verified Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to be effectively implemented between those interested in flying in and out of the Country as there will be a lift on the mandatory 14 days quarantine compared to as of before while the country operated repatriation flights in and out of Kenya during the highest peak of the Coronavirus outbreak in the Country and across the World.
In March this year, Kenya halted all forms of international travel as the country was put on an economic temporal shutdown or Lockdown to avoid the continued spread of Covid-19 in the country while it registered increased rates of the virus and deaths amongst nationals which lasted for months.
According to a press letter released this week, President Uhuru Kenyatta directed the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing, Urban development and Public works communiqué led by EGH James W. Macharia on effective ways of resuming International Air travel without having the mandatory 14 days quarantine which at times would be time consuming for travelers as many hesitated flying into the Country to avoid inconveniences.
According to the statement, new protocols would be followed after the Ministry in conjunction with relevant stakeholders prepared a Protocol for Air travel operations during the Covid-19 health crisis. The protocol seeks to provide guidelines to ensure that air travel remains safe during the pandemic for domestic and international flights.
However, the Protocol recognizes that the adverse impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic have been experienced in most sectors of the economy and the aviation industry still stands the worst affected.
Protocols to be followed shall include;
All arriving passengers on international flights with a Covid-19 Negative certificate whose body temperature isn’t above 37.5 degrees Celicious and do not have a persistent cough, difficulty in breathing or other flu-like symptoms, and have negative tests carried out within the 96 hours before travel shall be exempt from quarantine.
For those passengers traveling out of the Country will be required to abide by the particular travel, health and Covid-19 related requirements of the destination country.
Passengers arriving on flights past curfew hours with a valid air ticket and boarding pass shall be allowed to proceed to the hotel or his or her residence.
Drivers should have evidence that they have come from the Airport to drop or pick up passengers.
Passengers departing on flights past curfew hours with a valid Air ticket and Boarding Pass shall be allowed to proceed to their departure Airport.
Airport operators shall provide guidance material to passengers regarding application of preventive measures on board.
Where physical distancing cannot be guaranteed because of the seat configuration or other operational constraints, the crew members will make constant onboard announcements reminding passengers to adhere to at all times to other preventive measures including strict hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette and should wear a surgical face mask. In addition and in such cases, other measures such as cabin recirculation air filters will be put in place and working jointly with Airports Authority and Kenya Civil Aviation, the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure,, Housing, Urban Development and Public works is reviewing frequency and timing of flights to facilitate physical distancing at the Airports.
Currently, Kenya standards at 20,636 confirmed Covid-19 cases and has so far registered 341 deaths since outbreak of the pandemic.
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