President William Ruto may have quietly travelled to Dubai aboard a Sh2 billion luxury private jet, even as his official schedule placed him firmly in Kenya, according to available flight data.
While the visit was first exposed through an Instagram post by Italian billionaire Flavio Briatore, fresh analysis of aviation tracking records seen by TNX Africa raises new questions about how the President may have travelled and whether a familiar Embraer Legacy 650 private jet was involved.
Flight tracking data from Flightradar24 and FlightAware shows that a T7-JET registered aircraft, identified as an Embraer EMB-135BJ Legacy 650, was unusually active between Kenya and Dubai from January 1 to January 6, 2026.
The jet executed a series of short hops between Nairobi and Eldoret before embarking on overnight flights to Dubai.
On January 1, the aircraft departed Jomo Kenyatta International Airport shortly after 1pm and flew to Eldoret, a brief 27-minute trip. Several hours later, it lifted off again from Eldoret and headed to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai, landing close to midnight. The following days saw a near mirror image of this movement.
On January 2, the jet flew back from Dubai and was last tracked near Eldoret late at night. In the early hours of January 3, it returned to Nairobi after another short domestic hop.
By January 4, the same pattern repeated: the aircraft left Nairobi for Eldoret in the afternoon, then departed that evening for another overnight flight to Dubai, arriving in the early hours of January 5.
Its most recent recorded journey came on January 6, when it flew directly from Dubai to Nairobi, arriving just after 6pm.
During this period, the public record suggested that President Ruto was in Kenya carrying out official duties. Specifically, on January 6, 2026, he was visible across Western Kenya, visiting West Pokot and Kakamega counties as part of a nationwide tour to roll out new development initiatives.
He spent the morning and early afternoon in West Pokot before heading to Mumias in Kakamega County to launch the second phase of the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) project.
Meanwhile, the flight data shows that the President may have been thousands of kilometres away later that evening, perhaps attending private engagements in Dubai out of the public eye.
The quiet visit was first revealed when Flavio Briatore, a billionaire entrepreneur and former Formula One team boss, shared a photo with President Ruto at his upscale Lion in the Sun venue at the Mandarin Oriental Downtown in Dubai.
The duo was alongside Kamel Ghribi, a Tunisian-Swiss entrepreneur who leads Gruppo San Donato, Italy’s top private hospital network. Briatore described the President as his “prestigious guest,” effectively placing Ruto in Dubai at a time when his publicly known schedule did not indicate foreign travel.
Briatore has deep ties to Kenya, owning the luxury Billionaire Resort and Retreat as well as the Lion in the Sun boutique hotel in Malindi. The revelation sparked political debate and public scrutiny, but little was said about how the President may have travelled. The flight trail now provides a possible answer.
The Embraer Legacy 650 linked to the T7-JET registration is not new to President Ruto’s travel history. In 2025, the same jet was used for his official visit to Angola, a trip that drew public attention after images emerged showing the President boarding the ultra-luxury aircraft, then valued at about Sh2 billion.
The Legacy 650 is among the most exclusive long-range business jets in the world, capable of flying non-stop for over 7,000 kilometres, comfortably covering routes between Kenya and the Middle East.
Louis Hardiman, an aircraft analyst with Simple Flying, noted that Embraer introduced the Legacy 650 at the 2009 National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) convention as the upgraded successor to the Legacy 600.
“The 650’s performance upgrades resulted from more powerful engines and a greater fuel capacity, with an ability to haul 1,060 kg more fuel than the 600. It is also equipped with Rolls-Royce AE 3007A2 engines, producing a little over 1,000 lbs more thrust each,” Hardiman wrote.
The aircraft features a spacious cabin divided into three lounge sections, fully reclining leather seats, onboard Wi-Fi, a galley designed for gourmet catering, and private sleeping arrangements. Operating costs run into millions of shillings per hour, placing it far beyond the reach of ordinary commercial charter services.
Across multiple aircraft registry platforms, ownership of the San Marino-registered T7-JET remains vague, listed simply as ‘private’ or ‘unknown.’
Only scattered clues exist about its past, with LAAS International citing earlier registrations including N908SK, N1184U, G-WIRG, and PR-LBY, though these details are not independently verifiable. One aviation site suggested that the aircraft belongs to Jet Aviation, but a review of the company’s fleet catalogue does not list the jet.
The Embraer Legacy 650 does not come cheap. According to FlyCraft, a used model costs at least Sh2.3 billion ($18 million), while charters average around Sh1.1 million ($7,700) per hour, placing it firmly in billionaire territory.
This trip also marks President Ruto’s third time in five months flying aboard an expensive private jet. In September 2025, he travelled to Ethiopia aboard a Gulfstream V, whose hourly charter rate was estimated at a staggering Sh2.6 million.
Neither State House nor government officials have publicly addressed the said Dubai visit.
