The National carrier, Kenya Airways (KQ) has said that it will continue to operate the Nairobi-Mumbai route despite skyrocketing COVID-19 cases in India.
In a statement, Kenya Airways said the Nairobi-Mumbai route was crucial between the two countries and across the continent.
“The route is an important connection that enables the uplift of critical medical equipment and pharmaceuticals into Kenya and across the continent,” said the airline.
The airline currently operates scheduled passenger and cargo flights three times a week.
India has reported more than 300,000 cases over the last seven days, pushing the country’s overall caseload to nearly 18 million cases. The country has also registered over 200,000 deaths with 3285 total deaths in the last 24 hours.
However, Kenya Airways maintains that passengers will only be accepted on the flight upon presenting valid COVID-19 test results certificates at check-in.
KQ maintained it will continue to adhere to stringent precautionary health protocols in compliance with guidelines by the health governing bodies of Kenya and the countries it continues to operate in.
“Kenya Airways continues to adhere to stringent precautionary health protocols in compliance with guidelines set by the health governing bodies of Kenya and the countries we operate in to ensure the wellbeing and safety of our staff and customers,” said the airline in a statement.
Countries suspend flights to India
Several countries have banned flights from India including the Maldives, Kuwait, Italy, Iran, France and Indonesia. Further, Germany is only allowing German nationals and people with a German resident permit traveling from India to enter Germany.
The Canadian government on the other hand has suspended all flights from India for 30 days.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has banned all flights coming from India except for cargo for the next 10 days.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has banned the entry of travelers from India till April 28.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also issued an advisory urging Americans not to travel to India at all. India is among ‘level 4’ countries, or among those that now has high levels of COVID-19 cases.
The United Kingdom (U.K) has also added India to its red list of countries and has suspended all the flights coming from India.
Singapore announced a 14-day mandatory quarantine at a dedicated facility, as well as an additional seven days Stay-at-Home Notice for those arriving from India while Hong Kong Government has also banned all passenger flights from India starting April 20, for 14 days.
