Kenya Airways Boeing 787-8 Kenya Airways (KQ, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta ) and other Kenyan airlines will, by end of March 2021, commence direct flights between Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta and Hargeisa , the capital of Somaliland, the breakaway region of Somalia seeking international recognition.
In a move that has angered Mogadishu, Kenya openly recognised the secessionist region by announcing it would open a consulate in Hargeisa by the end of March 2021, while Somaliland would simultaneously upgrade its liaison office in Nairobi.
The announcement was made in a joint statement after a two-day official visit to Kenya on December 13 and 14 by Somaliland president Muse Bihi Abdi at the invitation of Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta.
The move was not well received by the Somali government which cut diplomatic ties with Kenya on December 14, the day after Adbi arrived in Nairobi. In a late-night announcement on national television, Somali Minister for Information Osman Dubbe accused Kenya of constantly interfering with Somalia’s internal affairs and of violating Somalia’s sovereignty. He said Kenyan diplomats in Mogadishu had seven days to…
Kenya Airways (KQ, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta ) has moved into a market gap left my stricken South African Airways (SA, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo ) by operating direct freighter services out of SAA’s hub in Johannesburg O.R. Tambo to Southern African destinations. Previously, all Kenya Airways traffic departing from Johannesburg had to pass through the Kenyan flag carrier’s Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta hub.
The airline said in a statement that it planned to operate directly from Johannesburg to Maputo , Harare Int’l , Lilongwe , Lusaka , and Dar es Salaam . According to the cargo flight schedule published on its website, the first freighter flight, KQ2775, from Johannesburg departed for Lusaka and onto Lilongwe on November 25. Another cargo flight, KQ2742, routed from Johannesburg to Maputo back to Nairobi on November 26.
The airline has two B737-300(F) s in its fleet: 5Y-KQC (msn 29088) and 5Y-KQD (msn 29750). It also makes use of bellyhold capacity on its passenger fleet of two B737-700 s (inactive), eight B737-800 s, nine B787-8 s, and…