The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) has granted air service licenses to 25 applicants in its latest round of approvals.
In a gazette notice dated Saturday, December 27, 2025, the Authority outlined its decisions, which are categorized into the issuance of new or renewed licenses and the variation of existing ones.
“Pursuant to the provisions of the Civil Aviation Act and the Civil Aviation (Licensing of Air Services) Regulations, 2018 (Regulation 28), notice is given that the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority has made decisions on applications for air service licenses whose particulars were previously published in Kenya Gazette Notice No. 10299 of 2025. The decisions are specified in the third column, and the particulars of the applications are in the second column for each applicant named in the first column of the schedule below,” read the notice.
KCAA decisions on air service license applications
For new and renewed licenses, KCAA granted air service licenses to 20 entities, with approval periods ranging from one to three years. Notable recipients include Tui Airlines Nederland B.V. (one year), Kenya Airlines Ltd (one year), and Freedom Airline Express Limited (three years).
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For variations of existing licenses, the Authority approved five applications, allowing operators such as Astral Aviation Limited and Governors Aviation Ltd to introduce new routes or add additional operational bases.
Full list of airlines granted licenses
Some operators received multiple approvals across different service categories. For instance, Airvan Kenya Limited was authorised to operate international and domestic scheduled services, non-scheduled services, and aerial work services under varying validity periods. Only two applicants listed in the gazette notice, that is Jetafric Airways Limited and Oasis Flights Company Limited, had their applications declined, with decisions recorded as “License not granted.”
The table below summarises the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority’s decisions on air service license applications, including the approved service types, effective dates, and the duration of each license granted.
| Applicant Name | Type of Service(s) Applied For | Decision Status | Effective Date | Period (Duration) |
| Tui Airlines Nederland B.V. | Inclusive Tour Charters (Amsterdam-Zanzibar-Mombasa) | Granted | 10th Nov, 2025 | 1 Year |
| My Freighter (dba Centrum Air) | International Non-scheduled Cargo (Tashkent-Nairobi-Dubai) | Granted | 10th Nov, 2025 | 1 Year |
| Fly Safari Airlink Ltd | International Non-scheduled & Emergency Medical | Granted | 19th March, 2025 | 2 Years |
| Governors Aviation Ltd | Variation of Domestic Scheduled routes (Wilson to various ranches) | Granted | N/A | Existing License Validity |
| Fly Mode Flight Centre Ltd | Variation to include JKIA as a base | Granted | N/A | Existing License Validity |
| Freedom Airline Express Ltd | Variation of Domestic Scheduled routes (Dadaab, Kakuma) | Granted | N/A | Existing License Validity |
| Fly Mara Airlines Limited | Variation to include JKIA as a base | Granted | N/A | Existing License Validity |
| Astral Aviation Limited | Variation to include Nairobi-Dubai-Haikou-Delhi route | Granted | N/A | Existing License Validity |
| Freedom Airline Express Ltd | International Scheduled (Nairobi to Mogadishu, Kigali, etc.) | Granted | 4th May, 2025 | 3 Years |
| Kenya Airlines Ltd | Domestic & International Non-scheduled Cargo | Granted | 31st Oct, 2025 | 1 Year |
| Skylift Group Limited | Domestic & International Non-scheduled | Granted | 10th Nov, 2025 | 1 Year |
| Ninety Nines Flying School | Flying Instructions within Kenya | Granted | 28th June, 2025 | 3 Years |
| Flitestar Academy Limited | Flying Instructions within Kenya | Granted | 23rd July, 2025 | 3 Years |
| Jubba Airways Ltd | International & Domestic Non-scheduled | Granted | 15th May, 2025 | 1–3 Years |
| Wilderness Air Ltd | Non-scheduled & Aerial Work (Patrol, Photography) | Granted | 2nd Nov, 2025 | 1 Year |
| ALS Limited | Scheduled, Non-scheduled & Emergency Medical | Granted | 1st Aug, 2025 | 1–3 Years |
| Aeorojet Aviation Ltd | International & Domestic Non-scheduled | Granted | 31st Oct, 2025 | 1 Year |
| Flypremier Company Ltd | Non-scheduled Africa (Scheduled routes denied) | Partial Grant | 10th Nov, 2025 | 1 Year |
| Airvan Kenya Limited | Scheduled, Non-scheduled, Medical & Aerial work | Granted | 2025 / 2026 | 1–3 Years |
| ALS Contracts Ltd | International & Domestic Non-scheduled | Granted | 12th Aug, 2025 | 3 Years |
| Everett Aviation Charter Ltd | Non-scheduled, Medical, Aerial work & Instructions | Granted | 16th Oct, 2025 | 1–3 Years |
| Kenya Wildlife Service | Domestic Non-scheduled & Aerial Work (Wildlife) | Granted | 10th Nov, 2025 | 1 Year |
| Balloon Safaris Limited | Hot Air Balloon Services (Masai Mara) | Granted | 25th Aug, 2025 | 3 Years |
| Bestlink Air Services Ltd | International & Domestic Non-scheduled | Granted | 10th Nov, 2025 | 1 Year |
| Phoenix Air Group, Inc | International & Domestic Non-scheduled & Medical | Granted | 10th Nov, 2025 | 1 Year |
| Jetafric Airways Limited | Domestic Scheduled & International Non-scheduled | Not Granted | N/A | N/A |
| Oasis Flights Company Ltd | Domestic & International Non-scheduled | Not Granted | N/A | N/A |
