748 Air Services has suspended its domestic flights in Kenya over lack of passengers

Aviation company 748 Air Services Limited has been forced to suspend its domestic flights in Kenya citing a lack of passengers as the main reason behind the impromptu changes.

The airline commenced its daily domestic flights from Nairobi to Mombasa in 2021 but the number of passengers traveling the route has dropped significantly from the day when the company started plying the route.

According to Moses Mwangi who is the airline's managing director, the company will shift its focus to humanitarian activities which is its primary objective in the country.

A 748 plane on the runway [Photo: 748 Airline Services Limited] Pulse Live Kenya

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“We are only suspending the domestic flights until further notice. We intend to employ all our assets and staff in our core business.

"Our core business has always been humanitarian aviation with domestic scheduled flights contributing less than 10 percent of our business," said Mwangi in an interview.

The airline which had initially stopped domestic flights from Nairobi to Kisumu has now named Mombasa, Diani, Malindi, and Maasai Mara as the new destinations to be affected by the changes.

Fly 748 pilots having a chat [Photo: Fly 748 Airlines Services Limited] Pulse Live Kenya

“We stopped operations on the route because numbers dwindled to a very uneconomical and unstainable level," Mwangi had stated earlier after the company suspended flights to Kisumu.

Passengers plying from Kisumu to Nairobi and vice versa were paying Sh10,700 for a return ticket, which was lower than the amount charged by competitors.

Jambojet and Safarilink are the only other aviators operating on the same routes.

Flight companies that have disrupted their flights in 2023

Kenya Airways was affected at the beginning of this and this year although the company was facing a slightly different problem from 748 airlines.

According to Al Jazeera, KQ was forced to disrupt some of its flights after citing a lack of spare parts due to the ongoing Ukraine war as the main reason behind their shortcomings.

A KQ plane Pulse Live Kenya

“The challenges have been occasioned by the Ukraine war crisis, which has significantly crippled the Russian supply chain crucial to global aviation," said Allan Kilavuka who is KQ's, Chief Executive Officer.

The company has since not given any other update if the issue has been resolved.