Passengers boarding the freedom airline at the Garissa airstrip on Monday. [Photo/the-star.co.ke]
A nominated MCA, Ms. Fatuma Abdi has welcomed the move by Freedom Air Express to launch flights to Garissa County.
Ms. Abdi who was among the passengers to board the plane on Monday said the move will go along way in reducing cost and traveling hours as most of the residents especially business people have been traveling by road.
She said those conducting businesses in other counties have been spending a lot of money and hours on the road.
Ms. Abdi called upon the management to introduce direct flights from Garissa to Mombasa and Lamu, saying many have business interests in the areas but it is tiresome to travel by road.
“Whenever I wanted to travel to Nairobi, I would fuel my vehicle and hire a driver. This would cost me close to 25,000. But with the flight, I will save a lot,” she said.
The airline will be operating on Mondays and Fridays and will charge Sh5,000 per passenger.
Mr. Ahmed Jelle, a businessman, said patients being rushed to Nairobi for treatment will get there in good time.
Mr. Shillow Abukar, the manager of the airline said that the airline intends to make daily trips to and from Garissa but this decision will depend on the number of passengers.
“I am really encouraged by the big number of those who had turned up to travel on the first day, I am optimistic that going forward, we will have a much bigger number who will fill the plane,” Mr. Abukar said.
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