Kenya Airways (KQ) plans to increase the number of flights to London in a bid to cash in on the rising demand.
This comes a month after Kenya was removed from the United Kingdom’s red list which had chocked demand.
The national carrier says it will add four flights weekly up from the current two to Heathrow Airport as UK route is one of the most profitable routes for the airline.
Demand along the London-Nairobi route plunged in April when the United Kingdom government added Kenya in the red list chocking passenger numbers by more than 70%.
Following the UK decision, Kenya suspended all passenger flights to the UK, effective midnight 9th April 2021.
Kenya also retaliated by requiring all passengers originating from or transiting through UK airports to go through mandatory 14-day isolation at a government-designated facility at their own cost upon entry into Kenya.
According to the Kenya Airways data Europe accounted for 20% of its revenue in 2020, bringing in Kshs. 10 billion out of the Kshs. 62 billion that the airline posted.
A statement from the Airline says “We shall be adding flights to the UK to four a week with a possibility of a fifth one depending on demand”
However Cargo flights between the two countries were not affected by the red list decision.
KQ is deploying additional flights on the Nairobi-London route at a time when the summer season, which is normally characterized by high demand for air travel is at the tail end.