Mogadishu -Nairobi direct flights resume

Direct flights from  Somalia capital, Mogadishu to Kenya capital  Nairobi have officially resumed. The first Kenya airways flight from Mogadishu landed at Jomo Kenyatta International airport on Friday.

 This comes six months after the direct flights were temporarily suspended by the Kenyan government due to security reasons. All flights destined to Nairobi from Somalia were required to stopover in Wajir town for a security check.

This move had a huge impact on the movement of passengers and goods between the two countries. The stopover involved passengers disembarking from the plane and going through immigration and customs while all luggage is removed and scanned.

 This resumption of direct flights follows last week’s meeting between President Farmajo and his counterpart, Uhuru Kenyatta on the sidelines of the just-concluded ICPD25 summit in Nairobi where they agreed to end the Wajir airport stopover.

The two also agreed to normalize bilateral relations starting with the restoration of issuance of travel visas on arrival for citizens of the two nations. in spite of an existing maritime boundary case at the International Court of Justice, efforts are being made to restore the bilateral ties between the two countries.