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Safarilink is Kenya's premier safari airline with a network of connecting domestic scheduled services to all the best safari destinations within Kenya and across the border into northern Tanzania. From its base at Wilson Airport‚ Nairobi‚ Safarilink provides daily scheduled flights to  Masai Mara‚ Amboseli‚ Tsavo West‚ Naivasha‚ Nanyuki‚ Lewa Downs‚ Samburu‚ Lamu‚ Kisumu‚ Kitale‚  Kilimanjaro‚ Loisaba‚ Chyulu Hills‚ Malindi‚ Migori‚Diani Beach and Zanzibar. 

Additionally‚ it can also provide private charter flights if a client's particular requirement as regards destination or timing cannot be met by the scheduled services. 

Safarilink was formed in January 2004 by a management team who together had more than 40 years experience in providing tourist related air services in East Africa. This professional quality specialist airline now operates 12 aircraft ranging in size from 13 to 52 seats‚ which are chosen to meet the specific requirements of operating into bush airstrips within Kenya's world famous game parks. Safarilink now provides daily scheduled services to 17 destinations and during the busiest periods of the year carries over 20‚000 passengers per month. Safarilink currently employs 251 staff of whom 46 are pilots. Safarilink is a member of the Kenya Association of Air Operators. 


AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE
 
Our Dash 8 and Textron 208B fleet maintenance is carried out inhouse by our Kenya Civil Aviation Authority Approved maintenance organization [Approval No. K/AMO/L/070] based at Aerlink Hangar - Wilson Airport‚ Nairobi. The Approval held is for Base and Line Operations‚ as per our Approved Specific Operating Provisions.
All our Licensed Engineers‚ overseeing the maintenance processes have undergone specialized Approved Aircraft Training and have extensive practical experience on the fleet maintained. 
Through direct daily liaison with the pilots the Engineering Division – Line Maintenance‚ ensures that all the aircrafts Airworthiness is continuously maintained ensuring the highest of aircraft Dispatch Availability and Reliability.
 
The Engineering Division– Line Maintenance is also charged with overseeing the movement of the Safarilink fleet on the airport apron.

INSURANCE

The insurance of the Safarilink aircraft is handled through Willis of London who are one of the world's leading aircraft insurance brokers. The Third-Party & Passenger liability limit per incident varies with the size of aircraft; see Our Fleet. Currently these liability limits are:

 Dash DHC-8-Q200 - USDollars 250 million
 
 Dash DHC-8-315 & DHC-8-106 - USDollars 150 million each

 Cessna Caravans C208B & C208B EX - USDollars 75 million each

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have a specific insurance related query.
 

CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY
 

 Safarilink has a strong ethos of corporate responsibility and makes every effort to assist organizations trying to protect the environment and help disadvantaged persons. This includes:

 Being an official Responsible Partner of Lewa Wildlife Conservancy whereby approximately 5% of the price of each ticket to and from Lewa is donated to their projects www.lewa.org.

 Providing complimentary or heavily discounted travel to surgeons and Medical and Educational Aid to Kenya www.meak.org.

 Donating tickets as raffle or auction prizes at charity fund raising events

 The employees participating in charity fun walks and runs

 Supporting the self-help Lamu Safi group in Lamu who are trying to clean up the streets.

 Funding an extensive tree planting programme on the slopes of Mt. Kenya. This project will make the flight operations of Safarilink carbon neutral in 2009‚ help protect a major water catchment area and provide employment for self-help women groups.

 Safarilink donates to the Diani Beach-based Colobus Trust for each passenger it flies into or out of the Diani airstrip.

FLIGHT OPERATIONS
 
 
Safarilink operates under an Air Operators Certificate issued by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority who carries out a detailed annual audit of the company's operations and related documentation and also carries out ramp spot-checks. Safarilink currently employs 46 pilots of various nationalities with total flying experience of over 70‚000 hours with four pilots each having over 12‚000 hours experience. The Dash 8 pilots attend annual refresher courses‚ including simulator training‚ in either Montreal or Madrid. 


AIRLINE PARTNERS
 
Safarilink has an arrangement with several airlines based in Arusha whereby it is able to provide a seamless scheduled service for passengers wishing to travel from Nairobi through to destinations in northern Tanzania such as Manyara‚ the Serengeti and Grumeti and vice versa. Bookings for these flights are not available online at this time and requests must be sent to our Reservations.


SAFARILINK GOES GREEN
 


Although debate continues about global warming‚ the evidence at this time points towards the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere being a contributory factor and accordingly every effort should be made to reduce this aspect. One accepted solution is to "lock up" the gas by absorbing it by trees. And although the emissions from the fuel burnt by aircraft are a small percentage of the total emissions from automobiles‚ power stations‚ factories‚ etc a responsible airline obviously has an ethical obligation to help reduce their "carbon footprint" as it is commonly known.

Accordingly‚ Safarilink has taken the decision for their flights to be "carbon-neutral" from 2009. This will be achieved by a major involvement in an indigenous tree planting exercise on the foothills of Mount Kenya within the Mount Kenya National Reserve. The number of trees necessary to achieve the carbon-neutral target will be based on a calculation linking the hours flown by the Safarilink fleet‚ their fuel consumption rate‚ a documented conversion rate for Jet A1 fuel to carbon dioxide and the "lock up" factor for the trees. The practical aspects of growing the saplings‚ their planting out‚ and equally important‚ their subsequent care until well established will be carried out by women's groups under the supervision of the Bill Woodley Mount Kenya Trust. This organisation has been involved in similar projects since 2003 and has already planted out over 120‚000 saplings. 

Additional benefits of Safarilink Going Green will be an improvement in the tree cover and hence reduced soil erosion over one of the most important water catchment areas in Kenya and a direct significant financial benefit to the women who will grow the saplings and nurture them to maturity. 

If you would like to learn more about the Bill Woodley Mount Kenya Trust then contact Susie Weeks‚ the Bill Woodley Mount Kenya Executive Officer‚ on susie@mountkenyatrust.org.