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Middle-East giant airline, Qatar Airways will be launching direct flights Doha and Kenyan coastal city, Mombasa. The move will increase domestic competition for national carrier Kenya Airways.
The Middle East carrier already operates daily flights to Nairobi and has named Mombasa as one of the 12 destinations they will be commencing their operations.
Qatar will become the latest entrant to have direct flights to the Kenyan coastal city joining Ethiopian Airlines, Turkish Airlines and RwandAir.
Kenya Airways' flights from the Middle East stop over through Nairobi before heading to Mombasa and is expected to begin preparing itself for competition from Qatar airways.
“The new destinations announced today mean that we can now bring (our) innovative and world-class products to even more travelers around the world,” said Qatar’s chief executive Akbar Al Baker in a statement.
Last year, the Transport ministry granted low-cost carrier FlyDubai the go-ahead to begin daily flights between Dubai and Mombasa further escalating competitive pressure on Kenya Airways. KQ posted a Sh26.2 billion loss last year and has constantly decried this policy, saying it is eating up the local flight companies.
But the government has insisted that the only way the can increase the tourist numbers is by opening the Kenyan airspace.