Mathias Ringa
2 November 2009
Nairobi — A Belgian airline jetted in Mombasa for the first time with 263 holidaymakers as the country gained ground in new European tourist markets.
The Jetairfly plane which is operated by Tui Airlines, Belgium, arrived at Moi International Airport at 10am from Brussels.
According to the airline's ground operations manager Koen Slembrouck the plane will be flying from Brussels to Mombasa once a week.
Mr Slembrouck said the airline decided to fly to Kenya following a huge demand by Belgian tourists who wanted to tour the country for holidays.
"Kenya is indisputably a wonderful country and there is so much to see around especially the abundant wildlife. The stunning beaches at the Coast are ideal for a lifetime dream holidays," he said.
"This year we have higher demands from Belgian holidaymakers who want to enjoy holidays here. That is why we resolved to fly to Mombasa," added the Jetairfly official.
Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) manager Hellen Omukoko said aggressive marketing by the tourist body had attracted tourists from Belgium.
"In our marketing drives in Belgium we targetted major tour operators as well as tourists themselves. Our efforts are paying dividends as for the first time we have received a charter flight from Brussels," Ms Omukoko said.
The KTB official added that from tomorrow a Nertherlands airline, Martinair would begin its twice a week flights from Amsterdam to Mombasa.
Thomson Airways Resorts Airport Operations manager Sharon Davies said Tui Airlines would be making four charter flights per week from Europe to Mombasa.
She said the charter flights would be originating from European cities of Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris and Gatwick in the United Kingdom.
Ms Davies said Thomson Airline is set to bring 258 tourists to Mombasa today while Arkefly will ferry in 260 holidaymakers on Friday.
"Every week Tui Airlines will be flying more than 1,000 tourists from Europe to Mombasa. The tourists are originating from UK, Belgium, France and Holland," she added.
Moi International airport manager Yatich Kangugo said aircraft movements have increased by 17 per cent compared to last year.
Mr Kangugo said in September they recorded 1,810 aircraft movements compared to 1,651 in the same period last year.
He noted that the airport received 82,045 passengers in September this year compared to 67,393 passengers in September last year.
Mr Kangugo said the airport expects the aircraft movements to hit the 2,000 mark by the end of the year.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 The Nation. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
