Mombasa Air Safari Mombasa Air Safari Mombasa Air Safari (known as MAS) is a Kenya coast scheduled airline. Originally started by Aussie Walker in 1970 as Rapid Air, the company was purchased in 1974 by Captain John Cleave and renamed Mombasa Air Services. Based in Mombasa MAS has, since that date, always served the coast tourism industry. An additional MAS company, Malindi Air Services, was created with the purchase of Sunbird Aviation ( Malindi) in 1977. A further company, Mombasa Air Services (Ukunda) Limited was added the same year with the purchase of Amphibians Ltd, based at Diani Beach at Ukunda airfield. The
Mombasa Peninsula, the Indian Subcontinent and China. 16th-century Portuguese voyager Duarte Barbosa claimed, "[Mombasa] is a place of great traffic and has a good harbour in which there are always moored small craft of many kinds and also great ships, both of which are bound from Sofala and others which come from Cambay and Melinde and others which sail to the island of Zanzibar." Vasco da Gama was the first known European to visit Mombasa, receiving a chilly reception in 1498. Two years later, the town was sacked by the Portuguese. In 1502, the sultanate became independent from Kilwa Kisiwani and