Flights to Eldoret are sold out this week as Devolution Conference that starts on Tuesday has pushed up demand for air travel to the north rift, forcing the airlines to ramp up frequencies on the route.
Jambojet and Skyward Express, major players who operate on the route have sold all the tickets for August 14 with a handful of seats remaining for August 15.
The high demand for passengers has seen airlines increase fares to as high as Sh10,900 for a one-way ticket on a route that is normally one of the cheapest to fly to in Kenya. Last week, airlines were charging as low as Sh6,400 for a one-way ticket to Eldoret.
Budget carrier Jambojet increased its frequencies to Eldoret International Airport to six on Monday and four on Tuesday. The airline normally has three daily flights on the route.
The carriers are also fully booked on 18 and 19 August when the conference comes to an end as delegates travel back to Nairobi.
The full bookings mean that some of the delegates will have to endure long hours on the 350-kilometre stretch between Nairobi and the north rift town, which takes at least five hours.
The Devolution Conference is starting on August 15 to August 19 and it will bring together officials from all the 47 counties.
The conference will give local businesses an opportunity to make good returns for the four days that the Council of Governors convention will be running.
Already, hotels have recorded full bookings with the price of a room doubling as entrepreneurs take advantage of increased demand.
Delegates attending the meeting will have to spend the nights as far as Kitale, Kapsabet and Kabarnet due to the insufficient number of hotels to accommodate all the visitors in Eldoret.