Kenya, Somalia sign bilateral air services agreement- CS Murkomen

Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, in a statement on Wednesday, confirmed that the two nations reached consensus months after they reviewed the agreement in March.

“The delegations of the Federal Republic of Somalia and the Republic of Kenya, met in Nairobi on the 20th and 21st day of March 2023 to review the text of the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) between the two Contracting Parties,” stated Murkomen.

“The delegations finalized and agreed to initial the text of the new Air Services Agreement, which we signed this afternoon at Transcom House, Nairobi.”

CS Murkomen revealed that the agreement which seeks to streamline air services within the two previously conflicting nations was signed alongside his Somalian counterpart, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Fardowsa Osman Egal.

He said the agreement was based upon four pillars including Traffic rights, frequency and capacity, code-share and the Technical Cooperation Agreement (TCA).

As for the Traffic Rights, the CS said: “The designated airline(s) of both Contracting Parties shall operate 3rd and 4th traffic rights. The exercise of 5th freedom traffic rights shall be subject to the approval of the Aeronautical Authorities upon request.”

Murkomen also noted that in regard to the Frequency and Capacity, the designated airlines of each party may operate seven weekly frequencies for passenger flights on specified routes as set out in the schedule of routes annexed to the ASA while designated airlines operating cargo flights may operate unlimited frequencies. 

Likewise, as for the case of code-share, designated airlines of both Contracting Parties may enter a codeshare arrangement with any airline including third country airlines provided that the third country airline has the underlying traffic right. 

TCA requires that the civil aviation authorities of both parties cooperate in the enhancement of mutual cooperation in the field of civil aviation, capacity building, personnel training and experience sharing.