- KQ is the ONLY airline offering non-stop link between East Africa and the United States of America
Nairobi, 30th November 2023 – Kenya’s national carrier, Kenya Airways (KQ), is celebrating five (5) years since becoming the first and only carrier to fly non-stop from its hub in Nairobi to New York and linking East Africa and the United States of America the fastest way.
The inaugural flight between Nairobi and New York was on 28th October 2018. Since then, over 300,000 passengers and 6,000 tonnes of cargo on 1,700 flights have been airlifted, covering approximately 72,000 kilometres.
The expanded codeshare partnership between Kenya Airways and Delta Airlines now offers customers additional travel options within the U.S. and increased flying opportunities within Africa, expanding customers’ travel options to more 31 destinations in Africa and 57 cities across the U.S. and Canada.
Commenting on the anniversary, Kenya Airways Group Managing Director, and CEO Allan Kilavuka said: “It has been an incredible 5 years of connecting our guests between Nairobi and New York. This route is of paramount importance to Kenya Airways as it serves as the fastest and most vital connection for our guests within the travel and tourism industry, the business community, and governments of both countries. We look forward to the continuation of providing convenient onward connections for our guests to various destinations in Africa and the U.S. and actively contributing to the socio-economic development of Kenya and the broader African continent.’
The Nairobi – New York route is strategic for Kenya as it provides the East Africa region a gateway to the United States of America and the greater North America region for social and economic growth through trade, education, medical, sports, and leisure travel. The New York –Nairobi route in turn has opened the East Africa region for tourism, trade and investments.
According to data from the U.S. Embassy Kenya’s largest export market is the U.S. and in 2022, Kenya exported $890 million in goods to the U.S. while the U.S. exported around $600 million in goods to Kenya underscoring the importance of connectivity between the two regions. The US is also a key tourist source market and in 2022, over 200,000 visitors from the United States arrived in Kenya.
To support the growing demand for travel between the Nairobi – New York route, Kenya Airways will introduce daily flights from 1st December 2023 for the festive season providing customers with more flexibility and travel options.
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Kenya Airways, a member of the Sky Team Alliance, is a leading African airline flying to 42 destinations worldwide, 35 of which are in Africa. In 2022 the World Travel Awards recognized KQ as Africa’s Leading Airline, Africa’s Leading Airline Brand, Africa’s Leading Airline – Business Class, and Africa’s Leading Inflight Magazine (Msafiri). In 2023 KQ was awarded Best Airline Staff in Africa at the prestigious Skytrax World Airline Awards. KQ’s fleet comprises of wide body Boeing aircraft that includes its flagship B787 Dreamliner and narrow body Embraer E190 aircraft.
The on-board service is renowned worldwide and the lie-flat business class seat on the wide-body aircraft is consistently voted among the world’s top 10. Kenya Airways takes pride in being at the forefront of connecting Africa to the World and the World to Africa through its hub at the new ultra-modern Terminal 1A at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi.
For more information go to www.kenya-airways.com or call our 24-hour Customer Services Desk: +254 20 327 4747, Twitter: @KenyaAirways, Facebook: KenyaAirways, Instagram: OfficialKenyaAirways
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