What's the real situation in Mombassa

[BoeingBoy]

I am supposed to operate a 767 into MBA on Tuesday morning. I am not sure if I will be staying a week or minimum rest for an evacuation flight but either way I would appreciate anyone with some up to date knowledge letting me know if I need an armed guard to/from the hotel, and any other security measures that I should be aware of.

I get the impression that things have cooled a little but the FO advice is still not to travel, so we will not have any outbound pax.

Any help would be deeply appreciated as otherwise I will have to depend on the corporate bull**** fed to me by the company to get the flight away on time.

Best Regards

BB

[Buzz Control]

Being reported on the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7181817.stm
Posted in Rumours & News

[SIERRA ECHO XRAY]

My younger sister just got back to Mombasa today from Nairobi and sent me an e-mail. She tells me there are civilian protests in the streets but nothing major. Otherwise the situation still remains uncertain. Be checking updates daily on that situation......Good luck.

[5Y-NOT]

Hi, friends and colleagues living in and operating out of mombasa are operating as normal. We're operating there daily as normal too. Those living there are just staying clear of trouble areas, when they occur, and these are well known and well contained by police. Right now it's business as normal. More demonstrations are planned in Nairobi next week and presumably fellow looters, sorry, demonstrators in mombasa will follow suit, but again these will be known about. North coast hotels haven't been affected or targeted, other than losing all their business for the forseeable future, again. I'm based in Nairobi operating out of JKIA and we just phoned around to check on roads/areas affected, and avoided them. Again, business as normal at the moment. I wouldn't worry, but check with your MBA ground staff on the day, more for access to the airport than personal safety. Violence is being meted out against specific groups sadly. Once in the hotel you wouldn't know there was a problem apart from being very quiet.
Meanwhile our so called leaders continue to drag our country down day by day in a battle of the megalomaniacs. Hundreds of lives tragically lost, hundreds of thousands displaced with nowhere to go. Tourism collapsing, business loss estimated at a billion USD so far, the list is endless. Neither side seemingly aware of the tragedy, and all in the name of politics. Too depressing for words.
5Y

[BoeingBoy]

Thanks for the replies. I am currently out in MBA and as you say, it's (lack of) business as usual. I think the only guests in the hotel are crews.

Apart from taking a more rural route to the hotel under armed guard we have not been affected.

Such a shame to see one of the most wonderful countries on Earth being spoilt in this way.

I hope that things work out OK for you all.

[AAL]

Tourist, businessman beaten to death

2008-1-28 12:28

Mombasa - A German tourist and a businessman were battered to death by a gang of robbers who trailed them to their apartment at a southeastern Kenyan beach resort, police said Monday.
Police officer Stanley Lemai said there was a long struggle on Sunday night between the men and the robbers, who had overpowered the security guard at the Diana beach resort.
"They were killed with crude weapons, like clubs and machetes. Both of them were hit in the head," Lemai said. Police refused to identify the two men except to say one was a resident German businessman and the other a German visitor.

Diani is about 5km south of Mombasa port, Kenya's tourist capital.