Kenya Airways leads East Africa in resuming Dubai flights as flydubai returns to Entebbe

March 5, 2026 in Business, Travel & Tourism by Editor

Kenya Airways has become the first East African carrier to resume flights to Dubai after days of disruption, while flydubai has restarted services to Entebbe, offering partial relief to stranded travellers and exporters.

Kenya Airways has become the first East African carrier to resume passenger flights to Dubai, restoring a critical aviation link between the region and the Middle East after several days of disruption that stranded travellers and interrupted cargo flows.

Flight KQ 304 departed Nairobi at 11:44 p.m. on March 4, arriving at Dubai International Airport at 5:14 a.m. local time on March 5, according to flight tracking data. The return service, KQ 305, left Dubai at 7:23 a.m. and was scheduled to land back in Nairobi at 11:21 a.m.

The resumption made Kenya Airways the first airline from East Africa to restore the route after flights were suspended amid regional tensions that erupted on February 28, grounding multiple services and leaving thousands of passengers stranded across airports in the Middle East and East Africa.

Operations at Dubai International Airport have gradually picked up pace, with dozens of departures recorded during the morning hours as airlines cautiously restored schedules.

However, the region’s largest operator on the route, Emirates, had not yet resumed its flights to several East African destinations by Thursday morning. The Dubai-based carrier normally operates a daily service to Entebbe and three daily flights to Nairobi, making it one of the most significant connectors between East Africa and the Gulf.

Most of the departures currently operating from Dubai are being handled by Emirates and its sister airline flydubai as the emirate’s aviation sector cautiously ramps up operations.

For Uganda, the first sign of recovery came when flydubai restarted its Entebbe route on Thursday morning. Flight FZ 619 departed Dubai at 6:25 a.m. local time and landed at Entebbe International Airport at 11:31 a.m., marking the first connection between the two cities since the disruption began.

The gradual return of flights is expected to provide partial relief not only to passengers who had been stranded during the suspension of services but also to exporters whose cargo shipments to Gulf markets had been halted.

Dubai serves as one of East Africa’s most important aviation hubs, linking the region to global passenger and freight networks. The city is also a major destination for high-value exports from Uganda and Kenya, including fresh produce, flowers, fish and gold.

Industry observers say the reopening of these routes will help clear passenger backlogs and restore cargo movements, although schedules are likely to remain limited until airlines fully normalise operations.

For now, the return of Kenya Airways to Dubai and flydubai to Entebbe signals the first steps toward restoring one of East Africa’s busiest international aviation corridors.