Kenya and Somalia have once again locked horns in another battle over violation of airspace taking their dispute to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
The dispute ensued after Kenya ignored the directive that all planes heading to Kismayo be cleared from Mogadishu.
A plane carrying Somali leaders Abdikarim Hussein Guled and Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan on Sunday, October 6, landed at Kismayo airport on a direct flight from Nairobi.
The aircraft, a Folker 50, bears the Air Operator License (AOC) of Jubba Airways and its registration number is 5YJXY.
Somali Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) wrote to ICAO complaining against violation of airspace by Kenya, after the aircraft was cleared to fly directly to Kismayu instead of passing through Mogadishu.
This comes after Jubaland reportedly bought a plane whose only purpose was said to be ferring delegates to Kismayo for the inauguration of Sheihk Ahmed Islam Mohamed Madobe the president of Jubaland.
On September 26, Somalia President Mohamed Farmajo used his inaugural United Nations speech to dismiss the call for talks with Kenya over another dispute involving a maritime border.
Farmajo stated that the matter was in court and that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) should be the ultimate arbiter because talks between the two countries had collapsed.
He also noted that the bilateral negotiations held earlier did not achieve peaceful cohesion.
In May 2019, The Kenyan government suspended all direct flights from Somalia into the country citing security concerns.
"No more direct flights from Somalia to Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport or Wilson airport," the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) tweeted.
KCAA Director Captain Gilbert Kibe, affirmed to BBC that visitors from Somali's capital Mogadishu or any other part of the war-torn country would no longer be able to fly directly to the Kenyan capital.
