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Kenya’s flag carrier, Kenya Airways has announced the launch a new route that will operate flights to India linking New Delhi with Nairobi. The service will begin from 15th May 2012 and will fly four times weekly using Boeing 767-300.
The flag carrier of Kenya and one of the largest African airlines, Kenya Airways has planned to kick start new flights to India connecting to the capital city New Delhi. This new service will start from 15th May 2012 and will fly to New Delhi four times a week using a Boeing 767-300 aircraft. New Delhi is airline’s 57th global destination and second in India after Mumbai.
The airline’s press release revealed that the new flight to India will operate as KQ220 from 15th May 2012 departing Nairobi Airport at 13:50 hours, arriving in Delhi at 23:20 hours. The flight will depart from Nairobi on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.
The return flight to Nairobi will operate as KQ221 from 16th May 2012 (operating Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sundays), departing New Delhi Airport at 00:50 hours and arriving Nairobi at 05:30 hours, the airline’s website stated.
The new flight to India hints the airline’s efforts in the direction of providing seamless connectivity to leisure holiday makers as well as those on business tours seeking to travel between Africa to India.
Dr. Titus Naikuni, Kenya Airways Group MD and Chief Executive Officer was quoted as saying “New Delhi is the second city after Mumbai that we will be flying to India, we intend to open four more destinations in the sub continent as part of our 10 year expansion strategy”
For being one of the largest cities in India and the most preferred city in India for information technology, investments, healthcare and government relations, Dr. Naikuni identified Delhi to be a destination of great business opportunities.
Since 1997, India has experienced an average economic growth of 7% annually and has become one of the largest emerging markets in the world. As per the industry forecasts, annual passenger flow between sub-Saharan Africa and India is estimated to grow at 7.1% over the next 10 years.
The fastest growing airline in Africa, Kenya Airways has taken up a network expansion strategy to connect all African countries with world wide destinations and aims to emerge as a preferred airline for those planning to travel to and from the continent.
Indian side has been involved in aggressively promoting business ties with Africa with a goal to get access to the emerging African markets. The brand new direct flight will not only please those looking for tickets on cheap flights to India connecting at Delhi but would also encourage the bilateral and business relations between India and the Africa.
With a vast Indian business presence in the country, Kenya has India as its sixth largest and a crucial trading partner. Recent reports reveal that Kenya-India ties have improved with bilateral trade to the tune of whopping US $4.8 billion in 2010-2011.
Kenya Airways had recently announced a right issue offer that will be launched on 30th March and the airline is hoping to generate Kshs20.7 billion from its shareholders to support the ambitious 10-year expansion plan called Project Mawingu under which the airline plans to increase the number of destinations it serves from 56 to 115 by 2021.
Popular as a full-service international airline, with the increased flight frequency to India, Kenya Airways is sure to add to its popularity among holiday makers looking for tickets on cheap flights to India from Kenya.