Kenya Airways launches direct flights to Cape Town

NAIROBI, KENYA: Kenya Airways has introduced three non-stop flights from its hub at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to Cape Town, South Africa.

Initially, the airline operated seven weekly flights to Cape Town. Four flights via Livingstone, Zambia, departing Nairobi every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday and three weekly flights via the resort town of Victoria Falls on Monday, Thursday and Saturday.

This brings to a total of 10 weekly flights to Cape Town from Nairobi.

The launch of the non-stop flights to the second-most populous urban city in South Africa is in line with the airline’s broader strategy to assert its presence and expand connectivity across Africa and open up opportunities for tourism, trade and investment.

“We are indeed very proud to increase our frequencies to South Africa to cater for the growing number of our customers who travel between Nairobi and Cape Town. In addition to enhancing Africa integration, this new route will be beneficial to the tourism industry as it establishes vital links with our global network,” said Kenya Airways Chief Commercial Officer Vincent Coste.

Kenya and South Africa are important trading partners. A number of South African firms have expanded into Kenya while thousands of Kenyans are frequent travelers to South Africa.

The announcement comes at a time when Kenya is listed among African countries to benefit from a new visa regime by South Africa that is aimed at increasing intra-Africa travel.

In what signals thawing relations between the two countries, South Africa has announced it will start issuing visas on arrival for travellers from selected countries, including Kenya.

The two countries have been involved in a tit-for-tat visa requirement that almost degenerated into a full-blown diplomatic row.