The Kenyan government has moved to bar Emirates (EK, Dubai International) from increasing the frequency of its Dubai International-Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta flights Kenya's Star newspaper has reported.

The Dubai-based carrier announced on January 19 that effective June 1, it would introduce a third daily flight between Dubai and the Kenyan capital - EK 717/718 - using B777-300(ER) equipment. The added flight would increase the total number of scheduled Emirates flights between the two cities to twenty-one per week.

However, quoting a letter from Transport Principal Secretary Irungu Nyakera to Emirates' Nairobi executive secretary, Carolyne Kyule, dated January 20, 2017, the report says the suspension of the flight's rights came after informal talks between the Kenyan and UAE civil aviation regulators.

Kenya is said to be seeking a review of the terms of its Bilateral Air Service Agreement with the United Arab Emirates, "in order to ensure parity in the exercise of rights granted".

"In this regard, the republic of Kenya is unable to grant a third daily passenger frequency to Emirates Airline before the review," it said. "Our earlier approval for flight EK 717/718 is subsequently withdrawn."

As of January 26, EK717 is still available on the Emirates website suggesting further consultations between the sides are ongoing.

According to the ch-aviation capacity module, the Nairobi-Dubai market is currently controlled by Emirates with 5,040 weekly seats (49.89%), almost double that of Kenya Airways (KQ, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta) which has just 2,653. The addition of the third daily flight in June will further skew the market in Emirates' favour driving its weekly seating total to 6,480 or 62.33% of the total market.