Kenya Sets To Take Off With New Protocols

Kenya has set the stage for the reopening of aerospace with domestic fights

Kenya has expressed it's readiness to lift the ban it placed on air travel but not without new protocols.

Ttravellers will not be required to have a Covid-19 free certificate to fly, but must not show any fever or coronavirus symptoms before boarding. This is part of the new protocols formulated by the Ministry of Transport and aviation players for air travel during the Covid-19 pandemic in preparation for flights resumption.

The new protocols came barely two weeks after President Uhuru Kenyatta directed their formulation, as the country set the stage for aerospace reopening with domestic flights.

The protocols, which will be reviewed every three month, cover five key areas: the airports, passenger management, aircraft & arrival process, the management of aircrew & operators, and disinfection & sanitisation.

The implementation of the protocols will see the airport management agency, invest in new safety and health equipments as well as helping contain the spread of the virus and ensure that the sector is safely opened up.

The management agency is expected to invest in whole-body scanners to avoid invasive screening both for the safety of the passengers and staff.
The authority is also expected to upgrade its security cameras and CCTVs to be able to use biometrics even when people are wearing face masks.

To ease congestion, the agency will be required to install four extra security screening machines at the PSY at JKIA to ease congestion.

Passengers must have their temperature checked using thermal scanners and thermal guns, before they enter the airport to identify those whose temperature is 37.5 degrees or higher.

Passengers will be encouraged to check in online, with detailed information for contact tracing before they are allocated seats and provided with their boarding pass.

Before accepting any passenger on the flight, the air operator's medical team, in conjunction with the Port Health and Air Operators Passenger Services, shall check the health conditions of the passenger by screening and profiling.

The protocols will also allow passengers to carry with them up to a maximum of 100ml of liquid sanitisers (in a transparent package) as part of carry-on luggage and also putting on face masks. Authority said.