Will Kenya Airway's direct flights to New York be a game changer?

An Ethiopian airline Dreamliner at Bole airport in Addis Ababa. Will Direct Flight to USA enhance KQ’s competitiveness? Photo by XN Iraki

NAIROBI, KENYA: The long wait for direct flights from Kenya to America seems to be finally over.

It has led to upgrading of our main airport and more recently, staff vetting.

Why the great expectation more than 100 years after the invention of the aircraft?

Ole Sempele had landed in Virginia in 1909, according to Kondia Wachira.

He must be the first Kenyan to do so unless some slaves from Kenya made it to the US, which is very unlikely.

Tourism is cited as the key reason for need to have direct flights. It will be easier for American tourists to fly directly into Nairobi without stopovers.

Oxford Business Group notes that “In 2016, the US overtook the UK as the single largest source of tourists to the country — an achievement made even more impressive by the fact that there are no direct flights between the two countries.”

This observation confirms the potential boost to tourism because of direct flights.

Trade is the other reason, particularly if we think of perishables such as flowers.

What is less talked about is that it will be easier for American investors who seem to be having a field day in Kenya.

Business often involves lots of travel. Muriuki Mukurima, a Kenyan living in Los Angeles however thinks that direct flights are more for UN staff.

The flights will be a badge of honour for Kenya, an endorsement as a destination and trading partner.

There is something sentimental when your planes with national colours land in a different country.

The other reason is that lots of Kenyans who have made US their home would love to take such a direct flight home.

Migration Policy Institute put the number of Kenyans living in America as 102,000 in 2015. Going by the prestige attached to visiting or living in the US, that number appears too low.

The same report shows that about a quarter of Kenyans in the ‘land of opportunities’ are in the nursing profession and two in five are homeowners.

Direct flights are buoyed further by our historical connection to the US.

Strategic thinking

Kenya’s pioneer scholars such as Mbiyu Koinange went to study there and so did Gikonyo Kiano.

They were followed by the airlift of 1959 that saw several Kenyans study in America as the country prepared for uhuru.

This airlift, I have always observed, is a testimony to America’s strategic thinking.

Add President Barack Obama and the need for direct flights become alluring. It is more like tamarcking a road to your in-laws. It is not clear why the big hype, yet another airline has been there for two decades.

Ethiopian Airlines, our neighbour to the north, landed there 20 years ago. It now flies to Washington, New York and Los Angeles.

Other destinations include Toronto, Canada, Dublin (Ireland), Tokyo (Japan), Manila (Philippines), Sao Paulo (Brazil) and new cargo destination to Bengaluru in India according to the airline’s website.

One would have expected this link to have been concluded during the Obama presidency.

Terrorism might have delayed this project. How successful will this flight be?

Already, there are reports of low uptake of the inaugural flight. Directness has never been a big issue in flights.

From own experience, direct flights tend to be more expensive and travellers, particularly Kenyans, are likely to be very price conscious.

A flight through Heathrow or Schipol will take you an extra two or three hours, not very significant. 

Direct flights are likely to be popular with businesspeople.

For the holloi polloi, any flight will take you. How comes no one talks of  travelling to the US or UK by ship, which are nowadays faster and safer?

Directness is not the only travel issue. We have to factor in visas and the purpose of travelling, business vs leisure.

Another wild card is how the competitors will react.

Will they lower the prices to lure us to their flights? 

The stopovers in Schipol or Heathrow, or Dubai are great business opportunities for the airlines’ own countries.

That is why KLM will route through Amsterdam, Emirates through Dubai and Ethiopian through Addis.

They will quickly add the spoke, and hub design is good economics; you can “bulk” passengers on long haul flights. 

But very coded is a business instinct, well developed in Dubai and Heathrow.

The timing of a flight often gives you enough time to leave some of your disposable income there with very attractive display of products, mostly high value like watches or perfumes. Duty Free is an attraction on these airports.

The direct flight is a major boost for KQ. It can bring more business, positive spillovers.

It is more like schooling in America; you get more acceptance in other countries. The same applies to the dollar. 

It is also possible that this hyping is calculated to distract us from the East, where China has lately taken lots of wind from America’s economic sail.  What do you think?

-The writer teaches at the University of Nairobi