``It is very unfortunate that after serving Nairobi for 36 years, we are forced to take this drastic measure,'' Lufthansa executive Josef Bogdanski said in a statement.

The airline said it would stop flights to the Kenyan capital as of March 25, 1999. Customers with a booking after that date would be offered alternative routings.

Lufthansa is phasing out the Airbus A310-300 that currently serves the east African country. The airline had considered using an Airbus 340 on the route, but rejected that option in the face of declining passenger numbers.

``As a fully privatised airline, we can no longer permit ourselves to operate loss-making routes,'' said vice-president Bogdanski of sales and services for Africa, Pakistan, Middle East and southeast Europe.

Since July last year, the number of tourists visiting Kenya has plummeted due tonatural disasters, ethnic violence and political instability.

The latest blow to the industry came last month when over 250 people were killed and 5,000 injured in simultaneous car bomb attacks on the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar- es- Salaam.

Lufthansa said it would study various options to provide passenger service to its customers through an alternative link, but it did not provide details.

The airline announced plans to boost its cargo service to Kenya by adding two weekly flights between Nairobi and Frankfurt and one weekly flight between Nairobi and Munich.

This is in addition to the three weekly flights that presently serve Kenya in a joint venture with South African Airways.

The capacity increase is in line with expected growth in perishable exports from Kenya, the airline said.