Kenya Airways expansion to boost investors’ access to European market

by Jackson Okoth and Ramadhan Rajab

National carrier Kenya Airways has launched direct flights to Bangui, the largest city in the Central African Republic.

The move comes as the global aviation industry struggles to come out of a downturn, occasioned by a sharp decline in traffic.

In the past two months, Uganda and Ethiopian Airlines have introduced regular flights into Nairobi and Mombasa, offering travellers more options as competition in the continents aviation business gains momentum.

A Kenya Airways plane takes off from an airport. The airline will operate two weekly flights every Tuesday and Thursday to the Bangui M’Poko International Airport. Photo: file

Kenya Airways will operate two weekly flights every Tuesday and Thursday to the Bangui M’Poko International Airport.

A $46 (Sh3,450) return fare is being offered on this route for tickets purchased by October 31, this year and valid for travel by November 30.

The introduction of flights to Bangui brings to 46 the number of destinations Kenya Airways flies to.

Easier connectivity

"Travellers on this route are expected to benefit greatly from the superb connections Kenya Airways network provides to destinations across Africa, Far-East and Middle East," Kenya Airways Commercial Director Mohan Chandra said. He said the route would enable investors dealing in diamond, coffee, cotton and timber to access the European markets for the French-speaking nation. The diamond-rich city of four million people will offer easier connectivity for the importers of food and textiles from major suppliers in France, United States of America, Cote d’Ivoire, Germany and Japan. There is a lot of traffic from Bangui to the trader routes, which Kenya Airways is targeting.

Other destinations Kenya Airways has launched in the recent past include Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, Ndola, Zambia and Gaborone, Botswana, which have improved connectivity to many parts of the world.

Kenya Airways applies the "fifth freedom" which allows it to carry revenue traffic between these foreign countries as part of services connecting to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

The freedoms of the air are a set of commercial aviation rights granting a country’s airline the privilege to enter and land in another country’s airspace.

The fifth freedom is between M’Poko International Airport in Bangui and the Douala International Airport in Cameroon.

The airline has embarked on an aggressive network expansion, with recent route additions being Congo-Brazzaville and Libreville, launched in March and June respectively.

The airline operates three daily frequencies to Johannesburg, South Africa and double dailies to Lusaka, Zambia, 10 flights a week to Lilongwe, Malawi and Harare, Zimbabwe and three weekly flights to Maputo, Mozambique.

 

 

Read all about: Douala Bangui Lusaka

 

 

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