Jambojet plans for more Lamu flights

DOUBLE DAILY TO LAMU? JAMBOJET THINKS IT IS THE WAY TO GO!

(Posted 02nd May 2016)

Come August this year does Kenya’s primary low cost airline, Jambojet, apparently plan for a second daily flight between Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Lamu, going by comments made when CEO Willem Hondius last week opened the airline’s new sales office.
The airline presently operates two Boeing B737-300, leased from parent company Kenya Airways, configured in an all economy class cabin and has in addition leased two Bombardier Q400NextGen for their flights from Nairobi to Ukunda, Malindi, Lamu but also to Eldoret. Should these plans materialise would Jambojet need to lease another Bombardier Q400NextGen to accommodate the additional flights.
Said Willem according to a quote received: ‘We have seen a growth in the passenger numbers on this route and expect this to grow higher once travel advisories issued by some Western nations are lifted‘ referring to the remaining warnings in place not to visit Lamu District.
A double daily flight would allow those travelling to either Lamu or Nairobi the option to do their business in a day without the need for an overnight while tourists, the main target group by Lamu’s tourism association, would be able to chose from two flights a day, on arrival taking the morning flight and on departure the afternoon flight to make the most, timewise, of their stay on the archipelago.
It could not be confirmed that the airline also plans to later this year launch a second flight to Malindi airport, from where the increasingly popular Watamu resorts are within easy reach too.
Jambojet has since its inception two years ago carried over a million passengers and is set to turn a profit for parent company Kenya Airways in the current financial year, largely due to the use of smaller turboprop aircraft which can substitute the more expensive B737 on routes with thinner loads.