Tanzania has prohibited passenger flights operated by Kenya Airways from entering its air and land space in a retaliatory move. The ban, effective from January 22, 2024, was announced on January 15, 2024, by the Tanzanian Ministry of Transport in response to Kenya’s denial of cargo flight operations for Air Tanzania Company Limited between Nairobi and third countries.
Tanzanian Director General Johari Hamza, in a strongly-worded statement, stated, “Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority on behalf of the aeronautical authorities of the United Republic of Tanzania has decided to rescind the approvals for Kenya Airways to operate passenger flights between Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam under Third and Fourth Freedom Traffic rights with effect from January 22, 2024.”
The decision was made on a reciprocal basis after Kenyan aeronautical authorities rejected Tanzania’s request for cargo flight operations by Air Tanzania Company Limited under the Fifth Freedom Traffic Rights between Nairobi and third countries.
In aviation terms, the Third Freedom denotes the right to carry passengers or cargo from one’s own country to another, while the Fourth Freedom represents the right to carry passengers or cargo from another country to one’s own. These rights are typically granted simultaneously in bilateral agreements between nations.
Contrarily, the Fifth Freedom allows the transport of passengers and cargo from one foreign country to another while en route to or from the carrier’s home country.
Hamza argues that Kenya’s decision goes against section 4 of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Air Services signed between Tanzania and Kenya on November 24, 2016, in Nairobi.
