WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2010-06-08 Time: 13:00:02 Posted By: News Poster
By Victor Juma
Mid last month low cost carrier Fly540 made its maiden flight to Kakamega, the first such flight to the airport in years.
The airline and its peers are boosting their investments by flying to niche destinations centred around tourism and emerging agricultural and economic powerhouses underserved by the country’s road and rail infrastructure.
Fly540’s operations manager, Nixon Ooko, said the airline, currently flying to 10 local destinations, is planning to also venture into Wajir, Mandera, Moyale, Busia, and Bungoma after adding Lodwar and Maasai Mara to its list of local destinations last year.
“People tend to forget that Kenya has substantial number of people who are active in business. These people are asking for better and more efficient transport services as information about travel becomes readily available,” he said, adding that to serve the new destinations, the airline will acquire one to two new aircraft.
Fly540’s ambitions mirror those of other players.
East African Safaris last year added Wajir and Hargeisa (in Somalia) to its flights to Lokichogio and Juba.
The airline’s sales manager, Jane Ng’ang’a, told Business Daily there are plans to expand its routes.
Safarilink, currently flying to 16 tourist zones, is set to add Voi to the list beginning next month.
The carrier acquired two aircraft in mid last year to expand its fleet.
Late last year, Safarilink and Air Kenya ventured to the South Coast through the Ukunda airstrip.
For Safarilink, the investment is yet to break even but hopes are high.
“In the airline business, it takes at least one year of operations to see returns on a new route,” said Anu Vohora, the firm’s marketing director.
She attributed the expansion plans to growth in tourism, adding that locals were warming up to a flying lifestyle.
Analysts said the tourism sector, the main source of business for small carriers Air Kenya and Safarilink, is well on track to replicate or even surpass the sterling performance seen in 2007.
In the first two months, tourist arrivals through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Moi International Airport, at 185,268, helped push the sector’s earnings to Sh13.3 billion, doubling the earnings over a similar period last year.
As of March 10, total visitor arrivals stood at 272,424, a 24.8 per increase over a similar period last year – overtaking the benchmark 2007 quarter by 238 visitors.
The surge in earnings and tourist numbers is attributed to a healing global economy and a favourable perception of the country as being politically stable after the 2007 post-election chaos that marred the country’s image.
Phyllis Marete, the director of tour firm BushBlazers, said the rise in tourist arrivals is also being pushed by the World Cup tournament soon to be held in South Africa.
Some World Cup fans are expected to sample tourism destinations in other African countries before or after the South Africa sports event.
Analysts attribute the growth among small carriers to a culmination of several factors, chief among them being rapid economic growth and poor rail and road infrastructure.
Ground to a halt
Nyanza and Western regions, for instance, have seen growth over the years while passenger railway services have declined.
There are few scheduled passenger trains travelling to the region from Nairobi per week, while the travels last over 12 hours and are prone to delays due to the breakdown of the ageing trains.
“The Western and Nyanza regions have a huge economic potential and airlines can run profitable operations serving them,” said Joseph Kieyah, an economic analyst at the Kenya Institute of Public Policy Analysis and Research, a think tank.
“Railway services to the region have virtually ground to a halt. On the other hand, it is expensive for motorists to ride from Nairobi to the region,” Prof Kieyah said.
Fly540’s foray into Kakamega, for instance, is seen as designed to tap into the travel needs of a burgeoning professional base in the area.
The number of commercial banks in Kakamega town has risen to eight, up from three a few years back.
Leading retail firm Nakumatt recently opened a branch in the town which is also surrounded by sugar millers like Mumias, Nzoia, and the privately held West Kenya with a combined annual turnover of over Sh15 billion.
The firms paid over Sh6 billion to sugarcane farmers last year.
Kakamega forest is also attracting tourists, opening a new visitor attraction.
A number of colleges and universities have been opened in the region in the past few years, turning it into an education hub, attracting frequent travels of busy professionals like lecturers.
Road transport to the region has suffered from poor infrastructure. Recently, however, the government has upped its investment in road construction across the country, a move that should ease the problem.
Infrastructural challenge
“The roads are improving but in most parts of the country there is still infrastructural challenge and people who want to travel fast and efficiently will choose air travel,” said Mr Ooko, the Fly540’s operations manager.
Operators of organised transport like Easy Coach and Akamba bus companies charge fares of up to Sh1,100 from Nairobi to the region, while competition among airlines flying from Nairobi to Kisumu have seen one-way air fares fall to an average of Sh6,000.
The low air fares are seen as affordable to a growing base of busy professionals and business people who make the journey in about 45 minutes compared to over six hours for buses.
Prof Kieyah said aviation interest in the western region is set to increase as Uganda’s new-found oil reserves are expected to have a positive spill-over effect on the region’s economy, strengthening it further.
The set up of the East Africa Common Market, slated for next month, is expected to further boost regional travel as residents of member states will only need their national identity cards to travel across the region, except to Tanzania which rejected the proposal.
The policy is likely to stimulate domestic tourism in the region. EAC member states have also cited lack of a common visa for tourists coming into the region as stifling visits to several countries in the bloc.
They recently announced plans to introduce a single tourism visa to ease the cost and complexities of accessing the region.
The plan, initially set for implementation from this month, is however yet to start.
While the airlines seek to spread their wings to new destinations, the dilapidated infrastructure of the small airports is likely to be a major setback.
Senior management at Kenya Airports Authority declined to comment on the status of the various airports in the country.
But according to a press release from KAA issued in late 2008, many small airports and airstrips have been grabbed.
Though KAA had made plans to revamp the facilities, rehabilitation work on some of the airstrips could not start because the land had been grabbed by individuals.
“In some areas, developments have interfered with safety of aviation activities and the airports/airstrips need to be relocated,” the document reads, citing Garissa airport, Rumuruti, Mandera, and Turbi airstrips as examples.
Other airstrips hit by severe encroachment are listed as Busia, Makindu, Lodwar, Bungoma, Chuka, Kitale, Kiwayu, and Tindweret.
In the case of Kakamega airport, the poor state of the runway made Fly540 to use a 19 seater instead of a 37 seater aircraft, with the airline’s management saying the runway needs another layer of tarmac to accommodate the landing of bigger aircraft.
Original date published: 8 June 2010
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201006080170.html?viewall=1