This archive report was first published on 11 May 2021.
On May 11, 2021, Kenya suspended all flights to and from Somalia for a period of three months, citing security concerns. The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) issued a Notice to Airmen (Notam) to enforce the ban.
The ban applies to all commercial flights, except for humanitarian deliveries and medical evacuation flights. Additionally, flights from Somalia passing through Kenyan airspace to other destinations are exempted.
Kenya's decision is seen as a significant escalation of tensions between the two countries. In 2019, Kenya had banned all planes from Somalia from flying directly to Nairobi, requiring them to land in the northern Kenyan town of Wajir for security checks.
Somalia responded by banning all planes carrying miraa into Somalia from Kenya and restricting other planes to land in Mogadishu before proceeding to other ports. However, these directives were largely ignored by the federal states.
According to local media, this latest move by Kenya 'dents the latest efforts to revive relations between the two countries.' Last week, Qatari special envoy Mutlaq bin Majed al-Qahtani helped broker resumptions of relations after Mogadishu announced it was reopening diplomatic channels it had shut down in December, protesting against Kenya's alleged interference.
