Zambia Closes Its Sky Against Kenya Airways
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L-R: Barrister Funke Adeyemi, Secretary General, Africa Civil Aviation Commission, AFCAC, and the Chief Executive Officer, RwandAir, Yvonne Makolo
Despite the “Open Sky” policy which has become a major protocol adopted in air transport, in most nations earth-wide, two African nations have relegated the principle of reciprocity to the cat and mouse game.
Or in Nigerian parlance, reciprocity has become the cliché, “If you Tarka me, I will Dabo you”. Or as a popular artist put it in one of his songs, “Do me I do you, God no go vex”.
In the latest scenario currently playing out between an East African airline, Kenya Airways, and a South African airline, Zambia Airways, nothing portends a healthy rivalry among the two nations, but a rivalry fraught with avarice, vindictiveness, vendetta, and perhaps a misplaced appetite for protectionism.
In what seems a growing fad of what is reciprocity in Africa, the Zambian Civil Aviation Authority, ZCAA, has just announced the suspension of all Kenya Airways flights into Lusaka.
Ostensibly, that decision by Zambia CAA was a sequel to the Kenyan Civil Aviation Authority’s, KCAA, earlier decision to deny Zambia Airways access to Jummo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi.
In a swift reaction, after a few formal interventions and various diplomatic meetings between high-ranking officers of the two countries failed to sway Kenya’s government to grant Zambia’s request, the Zambian CAA reacted in-ike-manner. After all, the Christian holy book says “eye for an eye, arm for an arm, and nose for a nose”.
Hence, in a recent letter dated 2nd October 2024, a day after Nigeria celebrated her 64 years of independence from Britain, Zambia CAA Director General Civil Aviation, DGCA, Capt Derrick Luembe, in an unambiguous tone wrote to announce the suspension of all Kenya Airways flights to Zambia. He highlighted that the suspension would take effect at 21:59hrs, Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) on Tuesday, 8th October 2024.
PRECEDING UNDERCURRENTS
According to the Zambia CAA Director General Civil Aviation, DGCA, Capt Derrick Luembe, Zambia Airways, through the Ministry of Transport and Logistics, had applied for scheduled flights from Lusaka to Nairobi.
Luembe revealed that Kenya CAA initially granted Zambia Airways a Foreign Operator’s Permit, but the authorization to operate flights into Nairobi using a wet-leased Boeing 737-700 was refused.
Luembe said, “Zambian CAA appealed to the Kenya CAA to reconsider its decision and allow Zambia Airways Limited to fly into Nairobi with the wet-leased B737-700 aircraft” yet, no dice.
Luembe noted that numerous persuasive measures and other subtle overtures were initiated by Zambia’s Ministry of Transport and Logistics, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and engaged the Kenyan authorities on several occasions, including a meeting with the Kenyan Acting High Commissioner to Zambia on 12th September 2024, all to no avail.
The DGCA said those measures were embarked upon despite submitting all necessary documentation, licenses, permits, etc, yet, Zambia received no response.
The Zambia CAA DGCA also revealed that as recently as 1st October 2024, he still reached out to the Kenya CAA again, via email and WhatsApp calls and messages, but all met a brick wall.
Luembe said at this point Zambia was compelled to recourse to invoke the notorious clause embedded in most Bilateral Air Services Agreements, BASA, the reciprocity clause.
He, however, regretfully announced thus “Given the lack of reciprocity and the ongoing refusal to grant Zambia Airways access to Nairobi, I regret to inform you that all Kenya Airways flights into Zambia are hereby suspended” Luembe concluded.
He explained that the suspension remains in place until further notice, as Zambia seeks a resolution to the matter.
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