THE Kenya High Commission
announced at the eleventh
hour that it would postpone
the new visa requirements
for South African travellers
from July 1 to September 1.
Despite this concession,
travel agents believe the
inconvenience of the visa
requirements will discourage
travel to – and through – the
East African hub.
In a tit-for-tat move as
a reaction to the new
immigration laws in
South Africa, the Kenya
High Commission has
announced that all South
Africans travelling to Kenya,
including those transiting
the country, would have to
apply for a visa. This would
require travellers to appear
in person at the High
Commission in Pretoria for
biometrics and pay a R750
visa fee (see TNW June 25).
Tammy Hunt, operations
director of eTravel, says:
“Implementing visas
will have a negative effect
on transit passengers,
mainly as they are not
going to pay extra and
bother with the hassle of
visa application processes
simply for transit purposes.”
“It’s a complete disaster,”
says Wally Gaynor, md of
Club Travel. He says SA
passport holders will not
go to the effort of applying
for a transit visa for Nairobi
when there are numerous
other options, such as
Ethiopian Airlines, available.
“As it is, transiting Nairobi is
a nightmare, as the airport
is a complete shambles.
This is the nail in the
coffin,” he says.
Yohannes Teklu, Ethiopian
Airlines regional manager
for Southern Africa, says SA
passport holders also need
a visa for Ethiopia but this
can be obtained on arrival.
In the case of transit
passengers, ET covers the
cost of the transit visa.
Numerous South African
travellers currently use
Ethiopia as a transit hub to
connect to Asia, the Middle
East, Europe, North and
South America, and to 50
destinations in Africa.
Also new destinations
such as Shanghai, Vienna,
Singapore and Seoul are
popular for South African
travellers, he says.
Chris Zweigenthal, ce
of Aasa, doesn’t believe
Kenya will lose its status
as a hub in Africa. He says
Nairobi is already a powerful
aviation hub in Africa. “It
has a strong airline, Kenya
Airways, as a home-based
carrier. Kenya Airways is
also part of the SkyTeam
alliance with its equity
partner KLM.”
Chris adds that South
African traffic between
Johannesburg and Nairobi
is mostly point-to-point and
not hub traffic. “In my view,
South Africans who wish to
visit Kenya or do business
there will adapt to obtaining
a visa and, in the long term,
it will not impact traffic
between South Africa and
Kenya.”
Kenya Airways had not
responded to questions
from TNW at the time of
going to print.
