NAIROBI — 

Kenya Airways has announced that it will suspend flights to Mogadishu from October 14. 

In a press release, the company said that it made this decision after encountering “obstacles in terms of operations,” which it did not elaborate on. 

“This decision was taken after careful analysis and considering the best interest of the company in the current business environment,” the press release said. 

Kenya Airways is one of five international airlines that fly to Mogadishu, the other four being; Turkish Airlines, EgyptAir, Qatar Airways and Ethiopian Airlines. 

The latest is EgyptAir, which started its flights to Mogadishu in July, and it goes to the capital of Somalia twice a week, with the possibility of increasing it further. 

Immigration officials believe Kenya Airways’ decision was forced by market conditions after it faced tough competition from Somali airlines that offer cheap flights to Mogadishu and Nairobi.