US firms to help lobby for direct flights to Kenya after the US-Africa Summit ties

Direct flights between Kenya and the United States are on track to begin early next year, Kenya’s Transport minister has said. The government is counting on the support of three US business giants — Delta Airlines, Boeing and General Electric — to lobby for clearance and set in motion the process of launching the scheduled flights. Cabinet Secretary Michael Kamau said this on Thursday as he revealed details of discussions with US regulators and firms during last week’s US-Africa summit, which saw more than 40 African leaders hosted in Washington, DC. He said the Kenya government had fruitful talks with the US Federal Aviation Authority and the Transport Safety Authority about progress towards Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport attaining FAA’s Category One status. This is required of all airports before they can have direct flights into the US.

EBOLA CLIPS AIRLINES

As Ebola continues to claim more lives in West Africa, Nigeria announced another case of the disease on Thursday, bringing the total confirmed cases in Africa’s most populous country to 11.

Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu told reporters in Abuja, the capital, that the latest patient is a doctor who helped treat the first Ebola case in the country, Liberian-American Patrick Sawyer, who arrived from Liberia last month with the virus and died on July 25. All those who are ill with Ebola in Nigeria had direct contact with Sawyer.

Ebola has killed more than 1,000 people and sickened nearly 2,000 in its current West African outbreak, which has hit Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. So far, Nigeria has recorded three deaths.