Kenya Airlines Leads in Africa

By Eddyson Lugangwa Posted 06 November 2006 @ 11:50 am EET     Print     Reprint     E-Mail     Comments

Nairobi (IBTimes.com) - Since entering into a business partnership with KLM, a Royal Dutch Airlines 10 years ago, Kenya Airways (KQ) branding itself as "Pride of Africa' has evolved into one of the most successful airlines in East Africa, Africa and beyond.

The airline has also continued to experience growth in passenger traffic and cargo business. During the first quarter ending June 2006, Kenya Airways announced a 12 percent increase in passenger uptake on all routes. KQ Country Manager for Tanzania and Seychelles, Lucy Malu said Kenya Airways was currently the fastest growing airline in Africa and was pursuing a strategic route expansion and fleet modernisation programme.

Responding on the number of airplanes the company possesses, Malu explained that the airlines' fleet was composed of 3 Boeing 777-200, 7 Boeing 767-300, 4 Boeing 737-700, and the 4 Boeing 737-300.She added that another three new-generation B 737-800 and Boeing 777 would be delivered before January 2007.

Besides that, the manager disclosed that an order for 6 Boeing 787 Dreamliner has been placed and expected to be delivered between 2010 and 2012 making Kenya Airways fleet among the youngest in the industry. On code-sharing, Malu said that her company was currently in joint venture with, Rwandan Air, Precision Air, Air Mauritius and Korean Air.

Responding on the contribution of Kenya Airways to the East African economy, the country manager said since they have daily flights from Nairobi to Dar es Salaam, which accounts for over 23 total flights in a week, Nairobi-Entebbe route three flights daily that make a total of 21 flights in a week, as well as many flights to Zanzibar from Nairobi, it was obvious that KQ contributed a lot to the growth of economy through its facilitation of peoples' movement, including tourists.

In the tourism sector, Lucy said since KQ currently covered routes from America, Europe, Middle and Far East as well as West and Central Africa, a large number of tourists were flocking into the region. "KQ has direct flights to (the) biggest industrial city of Guiangzhou in China three times a week, 10 flights in a week to Dubai, where all these areas are densely populated with tourists and business activities," she said.

She said that KQ has already started new direct flights to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris beginning on October 26 this year, preceded by Brazzaville and Cotonou route from October 6 this year. In that new route, KQ would offer three flights a week to depart Nairobi on Tuesday to Paris, while in Congo-Brazzaville, Cotonou route would take off every Tuesday and Friday.

She said they believed this new route would provide customers in Eastern and Central Africa with flexibility of flying directly to France as well as connect to mainland Europe and other parts of the World. Equally, passengers from France would now be able to fly directly to Nairobi and connect to any part of Africa using the Kenya Airlines network.

"The launch of direct flights to Paris is in line with Kenya Airways' expansion programme that is geared at delivering aviation services to key cities in Europe, Asia and Africa through scheduled and efficient connections," she commented. The introduction of the new route would not only create a new mark in the airlines' growth, but would also open up other parts of Europe to travellers from the region.

Paris would act as supplementary connection point for passengers travelling to other destinations beyond Europe. Currently KQ uses Amsterdam and London as its connection hub in Europe. Additionally, they recently signed a code-share agreement with Korean Air, enabling passengers to fly to Seoul in South Korea via KQ Bangkok connection.

The maiden flight to Freetown, Sierra Leone, landed on April 4 to arousing welcome and has since registered tremendous interest from KQ customers in that region. This move reaffirmed KQ's commitment to ease air travel in Africa in general. Due to increased customer demand, KQ has since linked its Freetown flight via Accra, Ghana.

To underscore its position as the leading carrier from Africa, last year, KQ became the first airline in Sub-Saharan Africa to win the prestigious IOSA certification for impeccable safety standards. The certification was awarded following a through audit that considered infrastructure safety, safety data management and control systems of the airline.

In recognition of its excellent business performance, the African Aviation Magazine has voted KQ as the Best Airline for 5 years consecutively. Last year, the airline was voted The Most Respected Company in East Africa in addition to being crowned the African airline of choice by over 35 000 Travel News readers.