[caption id="attachment_4869" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Upgrading of terminal (Photo: Transforming Kenya)"][/caption]

There could soon be direct flights to the United States from Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). This majorly depends on whether the ongoing upgrade of JKIA would be approved as a ‘Category 1′ air field by the International Civil Aviation Organisation and Federal Aviation Administration which is a requirement for all airports handling flights operating in and out of America.

In 2009, US homeland security officials declined to give Delta Airlines the approval to operate flights between JKIA and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, via Dakar, Senegal citing ‘security vulnerabilities’ in Nairobi. Talks are still underway to make the flights possible although the US is still skeptical about East Africa's biggest airport's ability to upgrade to recommended international standards.(Capital Business)

Should the approval by US authorities be made, trade ties between Kenya and the US will be enhanced with major Airlines ready to ply the route. This would give Kenya's national carrier Kenya Airways important mileage in the industry with the acquisition of its new fleet of Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners. The wide body airliner is a long range flight that could make direct inter-continental flights without stop overs.

Currently, Kenyans travelling to the US have to make connection flights through Doha in Qatar, Amsterdam, London's Heathrow or Dubai in the United Arab Emirates which is a costly and tiring affair. The long haul flights are expected to commence earliest August 2012.