Kenya Situational Update as at 17.00 GMT Tuesday 22nd January 2008
Following the removal of the FCO ban on all but essential travel to Kenya on Saturday 19th January, the overall level of the travel advice remains the same and continues to recommend that visitors do not go to certain areas of the country. We suggest that you continue to constantly review both the recommendations of the Department of Foreign Affairs in the Republic of Ireland and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office Travel Advisories in the United Kingdom.
www.foreignaffairs.gov.ie
www.fco.gov.uk
Today’s security update (below) gives more information about these regions. We continue to receive updates from the private sector in Kenya and the daily Situational Updates from the Kenya Tourist Board in association with the Kenya Tourism Federation. These will be issued for the foreseeable future.
o The scheduled carriers - British Airways is still operating their daily schedules as normal from London Heathrow to Nairobi and from Nairobi International Airport to London Heathrow. There have been some revisions to both the Virgin Atlantic Airways timetable (with passengers on occasional flights moved to other dates of travel or carriers) and Kenya Airways which may not operate certain day time flights but will continue to operate their daily evening departures. For details please contact the appropriate carrier. KLM (flying via Amsterdam) advise that there may be certain route changes but its daily departures to Nairobi continue and Swiss services via Zurich and Brussels Airlines via Brussels also continue as normal.
o All international passengers continue to transit normally through Nairobi International Airport to onward destinations and domestic flights by all carriers continue as normal with some cancellations due to low passenger loads.
Today in Kenya
Tuesday 22nd January 2008: Security Update: 6.00 p.m.
“Today Nairobi was calm and all was operating as normal, apart from an incident this morning when a small crowd gathered in the city centre and attempted to hold a demonstration in support of the President. This was quickly dispersed by the police and all quickly returned to normal. There were no reports of any injuries and no tourists were reported to be in the vicinity of this demonstration. No problems were reported today in the Nairobi slums. The airports operated as normal and all roads were open as usual.
Mombasa and the coastal areas: all calm and quiet with business as usual in Mombasa town and all roads open as normal.
No problems were reported in any of the wildlife parks and reserves, with all tourist routes open for traffic as normal to all the leading parks and reserves including the Mara, Lake Nakuru, Aberdares, Laikipia, Samburu, Meru, Mt Kenya, Amboseli, Tsavo, Shimba Hills and the community wildlife conservancies.
Once again there were no reports of any problems affecting tourists staying in Nairobi hotels, beach resorts, on safari, or transferring between airports and hotels.
The scenes of violent demonstrations and confrontations with police which have been frequently screened on international TV networks during the last fortnight have been sporadic and isolated, confined to certain parts of Kenya and have not occurred across the whole country. They have largely taken place in some of Nairobi’s slums and areas of Western Kenya around Kisumu-Kericho-Eldoret which are not often visited by tourists. These areas are at present off-limits for tourists and have been avoided by tour operators since the onset of the post-election crisis. The tourist resorts and wildlife parks have been unaffected and tourists continue to visit these areas without a problem.
The arrival of Kofi Annan is expected today and it is hoped that he will be able to assist as a mediator between both sides in the current political impasse to achieve an early settlement.
The British Travel Advisory was amended on Saturday so that it is no longer a blanket “non-essential travel” warning against the whole of Kenya and applies only to specific locations, in line with our own recommendations, and on similar lines to the US and German government advisories.” Jake Grieves-Cook, Spokesman, Kenya Tourism Federation
Following the removal of the FCO ban on all but essential travel to Kenya on Saturday 19th January, the overall level of the travel advice remains the same and continues to recommend that visitors do not go to certain areas of the country. We suggest that you continue to constantly review both the recommendations of the Department of Foreign Affairs in the Republic of Ireland and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office Travel Advisories in the United Kingdom.
www.foreignaffairs.gov.ie
www.fco.gov.uk
Today’s security update (below) gives more information about these regions. We continue to receive updates from the private sector in Kenya and the daily Situational Updates from the Kenya Tourist Board in association with the Kenya Tourism Federation. These will be issued for the foreseeable future.
o The scheduled carriers - British Airways is still operating their daily schedules as normal from London Heathrow to Nairobi and from Nairobi International Airport to London Heathrow. There have been some revisions to both the Virgin Atlantic Airways timetable (with passengers on occasional flights moved to other dates of travel or carriers) and Kenya Airways which may not operate certain day time flights but will continue to operate their daily evening departures. For details please contact the appropriate carrier. KLM (flying via Amsterdam) advise that there may be certain route changes but its daily departures to Nairobi continue and Swiss services via Zurich and Brussels Airlines via Brussels also continue as normal.
o All international passengers continue to transit normally through Nairobi International Airport to onward destinations and domestic flights by all carriers continue as normal with some cancellations due to low passenger loads.
Today in Kenya
Tuesday 22nd January 2008: Security Update: 6.00 p.m.
“Today Nairobi was calm and all was operating as normal, apart from an incident this morning when a small crowd gathered in the city centre and attempted to hold a demonstration in support of the President. This was quickly dispersed by the police and all quickly returned to normal. There were no reports of any injuries and no tourists were reported to be in the vicinity of this demonstration. No problems were reported today in the Nairobi slums. The airports operated as normal and all roads were open as usual.
Mombasa and the coastal areas: all calm and quiet with business as usual in Mombasa town and all roads open as normal.
No problems were reported in any of the wildlife parks and reserves, with all tourist routes open for traffic as normal to all the leading parks and reserves including the Mara, Lake Nakuru, Aberdares, Laikipia, Samburu, Meru, Mt Kenya, Amboseli, Tsavo, Shimba Hills and the community wildlife conservancies.
Once again there were no reports of any problems affecting tourists staying in Nairobi hotels, beach resorts, on safari, or transferring between airports and hotels.
The scenes of violent demonstrations and confrontations with police which have been frequently screened on international TV networks during the last fortnight have been sporadic and isolated, confined to certain parts of Kenya and have not occurred across the whole country. They have largely taken place in some of Nairobi’s slums and areas of Western Kenya around Kisumu-Kericho-Eldoret which are not often visited by tourists. These areas are at present off-limits for tourists and have been avoided by tour operators since the onset of the post-election crisis. The tourist resorts and wildlife parks have been unaffected and tourists continue to visit these areas without a problem.
The arrival of Kofi Annan is expected today and it is hoped that he will be able to assist as a mediator between both sides in the current political impasse to achieve an early settlement.
The British Travel Advisory was amended on Saturday so that it is no longer a blanket “non-essential travel” warning against the whole of Kenya and applies only to specific locations, in line with our own recommendations, and on similar lines to the US and German government advisories.” Jake Grieves-Cook, Spokesman, Kenya Tourism Federation
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