KQ hits 75 per cent passengers capacity on New York route

Kenya Airways CEO Sebastian Mikosz and Safarilink CEO Alex Avedi during the signing of the code sharing agreement in New York Kenya Airways has completed 594 flights to and from New York since the launch of inaugural flight on October 28 last year.

Speaking during a one-year anniversary celebration in New York, KQ chairman Michael Joseph said at least 105,084 passengers have been flown on the route in the past one year.

During the launch, the Kenyan carrier known internationally as KQ deployed a Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet with a capacity of 234 seats for their daily flight to New York.

For 594 flights made in the year, KQ could have ferried a full 138,998 passengers on full capacity. This means the airline managed 75 per cent capacity since launch.

“Currently as we speak all our business class is fully booked on a daily basis and the economy is currently between 65 and 85 percent full daily,” Joseph said.

KQ which had aimed a daily flight on the route but this was cut a few weeks later to five days a week, citing low demand during the winter season.

It, however, resumed daily flight in June on the Summer holiday peak especially for American tourists visiting East Africa.

"Beginning June, Kenya Airways will increase its frequency to New York from five days a week to seven days a week. This is expected to open more opportunities for travelers to take advantage of this route during this high season,” KQ said in a statement.

The non-stop flight to the US was billed as a key in Kenya’s quest to boost the arrival of American tourists as well as deepen commercial activity between the two countries that have been trading partners since Kenya’s independence in 1963.

KQ had hoped to ride on high tourist numbers from the US to increase its revenues by 10 per cent.

At least 225,157 American tourists visited Kenya last year, accounting for 11.12 per cent of Kenya’s tourism market share. Tanzania came second to control 10.48 per cent of total tourists to Kenya.According to Joseph, a codeshare with Delta, all their passengers can fly from Nairobi to all the destinations without changing flights but they are seeking to expand the same by next year.KQ’s Nairobi New York Route serves 34 Africa destinations with Nigeria leading at 16.3 per cent of connecting Africa traffic with 1753 passengers.South Africa is second at 15 per cent with 1613 passengers […]

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