Kenya Airways to boost operations with new flight schedule
As part of its transformation program, Kenya Airways announces several flight scheduling changes that will take effect from 1st of April 2015. This change is expected to boost connectivity for our passengers by 20%.
This is coinciding with the planned runway upgrade program by the Kenya Airports Authority that will see the Nairobi’s JKIA runway closed for six hours daily, from 12 midnight to 6 am for the next one year.
Kenya Airways will now operate improved schedule that ensures efficient use of its aircraft and crew and flight connections for passengers. There will be an increase in flight frequencies to some cities on its network especially in Africa and changed flight schedule.
Kenya Airways’ Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Mbuvi Ngunze said the rationale behind this hub redesign program is to augment operations while accommodating the runway upgrade.
Africa
Africa is the main beneficiary of the changes allowing for better connectivity into Europe and Asia. Intra Africa connectivity will also be enhanced by the new schedule.
East Africa
In a push to grow the leisure market and boost local tourism, flights to Malindi go up from 7 to 14 per week (double daily) and Mombasa (56 to 63 per week). Frequencies into Tanzanian towns of Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar have also doubled to two flights a day.
Southern Africa
Kenya Airways has introduced daily night flights to Lusaka, Zambia and Lilongwe in Malawi in addition to the existing day flights.
Mozambique flights to Maputo will increase from 4 to 5 a week and flights to Nampula increase from 3 to 4 a week. In Zimbabwe, Harare flights go up from current 14 flights to 21 per week.
Central Africa
Kinshasa in the DRC will now be served by the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, to accommodate more passengers and cargo.
Flights to Yaounde and Doula increase from 5 times per week to daily..
West Africa
As part of its Bilateral Air Service Agreement with the Governments of Ghana and Liberia, Kenya Airways will operate a flight between Accra and Monrovia on the 5th freedom agreement. These agreements allow airlines to operate between two cities without returning to the hub.
The flights will operate as the airline awaits clearance by the Kenyan Ministry of Health to resume flights between Nairobi and Monrovia suspended last year following the Ebola outbreak.
Middle East, Asia and Far East
Kenya Airways will now fly to Dubai in the UAE 11 times a week up from the current 7.
The inaugural flight on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to Hanoi in Vietnam is scheduled for the 30th of March 2015. Kenya Airways will fly to Hanoi 3 times a week, linked to Guangzhou. Flights to Mumbai, India will increase from the current one a day to twice daily, with the day flight being on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Europe
Flights to Paris in France will increase from current 5 to 7 per week, while London in the UK and Amsterdam in the Netherlands remain as a daily flight. All three destinations will be now served by the latest aircraft in the fleet.