SKYTEAM PARTNER CHINA SOUTHERN SET TO ANNOUNCE GUANGZHOU – NAIROBI FLIGHTS
(Posted 14th April 2015)
Kenya Airways’ codeshare partner on the route from Nairobi to Guangzhou, China Southern, is finalizing arrangements to commence their own flights, adding capacity between the two countries. The route is presently served daily by a Boeing B787 Dreamliner, operated by Kenya Airways, and SkyTeam partner China Southern will according to information received add three more flights, making it ten overall.
A source close to Kenya Airways confirmed that the extra flights will also be operated as codeshared flights, with each of the two airlines able to sell seats on the flights operated by the partner airline.
The source also dismissed reports in the local Kenyan media which suggested that the additional flights would compete with the KQ operation, saying that the ultimate goal would be to operate a double daily service between Nairobi and Guangzhou similar to the double daily service to Amsterdam where both KLM and KQ offer one flight a day each. Tourism Board sources welcomed the news saying that every extra flight into Nairobi from China would bring more Chinese tourists to Kenya, something which needed encouraging rather than putting a negative spin on this development. On condition of anonymity did the source then add: ‘In some circles it is fashionable these days to tear our national airline apart. Those people are fools who serve masters with an ulterior motive. Without our national airline we could as well pack up and go home as far as tourism is concerned. Do they have problems? Of course, every airline, every business faces challenges in Kenya these days but to try to malign them like what is happening these days is completely unpatriotic. These fellows should take a leaf from Rwanda where the entire country stands behind their airline and here some cancerous elements take insane pleasure to crucify KQ at every turn of the way’.
The new flights are due to be launched later in the year so watch this space to be the first to know when this is going to happen.
