By Moses Adongo
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Sunday evening urged Kenyans leaving in the United States to grab the opportunities brought about by the low-cost Kenya Airways’ direct flights from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to New York.
The President was attending a dinner organized by Kenya Airways at Rockefeller Plaza, New York where he met influential business and corporate leaders.
He took that opportunity to appreciate players both in US and Kenya who ensured that the deal was reached to have Kenya Airways fly into the American airspace.
The airline will make an inaugural flight to New York on October 28, 2018.
“On behalf of Kenyan people, I thank the United States Government for working closely with us to make this realization,” said Kenyatta.
He further urged top travel players and investors who were attending the dinner to take advantage of the new flights in accelerating US investments in Kenya. He said the new flights, will hopefully open Kenya to more tourists from America to become the highest number of visitors holidaying in the country.
“To achieve this vision, I encourage Kenya Airways to scale up its services and become the airline of choice in a very competitive industry. My administration has given you a strong platform to excel,” the President said adding that he hoped the airline would seize the opportunity and become the real ‘Pride of Africa.”
The Head of State also expressed his gratitude to the US government for allowing Kenya to take part in the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Advisory Programme adding that the programme would provide an on-site training and technical assistance on customs administration and border control for Kenyan agencies.
Kenya’s Commander in Chief, together with other delegates, had on Friday traveled to the US to attend the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
