#KENYAAIRWAYS COUNTING DOWN FOR FLIGHTS TO THE ‘BIG APPLE‘
(Posted 11th January 2018)
(Kenya’ social media Facebook page handlers jumped the gun ahead of the formal announcement expected later today)
Ahead of the formal announcement expected some time today it was learned that Kenya Airways plans to launch nonstop flights from Nairobi to New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport on the 30th of October this year.
Flights KQ002 from NBO to JFK and KQ003 from JFK to NBO will according to information seen be operated daily using a two class (C/Y) Boeing B787-8 Dreamliner on the route.
The nonstop service will according to reservation websites – flight bookings are open now as of today – leave the Kenyan capital at 23.25 hrs and arrive the next morning local time at 06.25 hrs, lasting for 15 hours, while the return service leaves New York at 12.25 hrs local time, landing back home in Nairobi at 10.55 hrs the next day. The flights, due to the duration, will be operated with an extended cockpit crew to meet international safety standards.
This will be the first direct flight between Kenya and the United States, a country which last year moved to the top of the tourist source markets, sparing travelers the otherwise much longer journey via European or Gulf waypoints.
It is understood from sources close to Kenya Airways that at least two final permissions are still required from US authorities, after various hurdles along the way have been successfully negotiated by Kenya, such as getting the coveted Category 1 status from the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA in short.
Outstanding is the clearance as ‘Last Point of Departure‘ which is to be issued by the US Transportation Security Administration and another, a flight authority permit from the FAA. Kenyan officials are confident that both will be approved in the near future, then setting the course for the inaugural flight at the end of October this year.
Other airlines flying from Africa to the United States are Ethiopian Airlines, Royal Air Maroc, EgyptAir and South African Airways while RwandAir is said to be planning for a flight launch to the US too according to statements made last year by the Rwandan national airline.
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