Yesterday, Saturday, February 15, saw the launch of scheduled flights from Nairobi to the border town of Lokichogio in Northern Kenya.
Lokichogio was during the liberation war, the South Sudan’s People Liberation Army main springboard for relief and medevac flights into the South Sudan as it waged against the regime in Khartoum and also a major supply route used by the SPLA and their allies to eventually force Khartoum to the negotiating table and map out the path for full independence. At that time, Loki as the locals call it, was one of the busiest aerodromes in Kenya before, upon independence, scheduled flights from Nairobi to Juba shifted the traffic axis away from Loki.
East African Safari Air Express will serve the route, the 12th in its network, alongside with a number of other upcountry destinations like Wajir or Kitale using a Beechcraft B1900 aircraft.
The airline is reportedly targeting such routes to be the first to serve remote upcountry domestic destinations and regional destinations not served by other airlines like the Comoros Islands to open up air links without competition breathing down their neck and allowing them to build customer loyalty. It is understood that the airline will combine Lokichogio with Lokichar, where newly-found major oil deposits have been discovered, leading to an anticipated boom in economic activity in this part of Kenya over the coming years.
