The passenger flight brawl between Kenya and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has hit a deadlock yet again after Kenyan temporarily banned all passenger flights from and to Dubai.
In a response to Business Daily, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) Director General Gilbert Kibe said the seven-day suspension is due to fake COVID-19 certificate that Dubai had issued against Kenya and takes effect January 11, 2022.
“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,” said Kibe in his response to BD.
This comes 11 days after UAE extended the ban on Kenyan travelling to its territory indefinitely, restricting inbound flights from Nairobi and a host of other African countries.
In a notice, Emirates Airlines announced that it has extended the ban, which was to end on the eve of Christmas, until further notice.
The Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) had announced a 48-hour suspension on all flights from Kenya to the Middle East nation on December 20, and two days later, the Dubai-based carrier said that it has, in turn, extended its flights from Kenya suspension to comply with the directive that was to end on December 24.
“Until further notice, flights to and from Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda are suspended. Passengers who have been in or transited through these countries in the last 14 days will not be allowed to enter or transit through Dubai,” said the notice from the airline.
The brawl revolves around a number of alleged cases that Kenyans have been faking COVID certificates to facilitate their entry to the UAE.
The Ministry of Health has since launched an investigation into the allegations with some health workers facing law should the accuses be found legitimate.
