NEED TO REDEPLOY DREAMLINERS CITED AS REASONS FOR HANOI AND HONGKONG PULLOUT
(Posted 29th September 2017)
The need for larger aircraft on busy African routes was cited as a major factor for the announcement by Kenya Airways, to halt flights to Hanoi and Hong Kong effective October this year.
Another source close to the airline also responded to questions raised here in previous articles about KQ’s planned flights to the United States which are likely to be launched some time next year and the lack of aircraft available to add such a service. Said the source on condition of anonymity:’You were right that the airline would under the present scheduling arrangements be short of the required long haul aircraft. The two B787’s leased out to Oman Air will also not come back before the end of the agreed lease period so this is one way to answer your question. The airline also found that on key African routes the availability of another wide body would also help to reap big from demand where the B737’s are simply becoming too small, for passengers and in particular for cargo uplift. Hanoi and Hong Kong may also not have generated the yields hoped for and it is to be seen which of Kenya Airways’ partners in the Far East will step up and offer flights under a code share arrangement‘,
Flights to Guangzhou will not be affected by the pullout from Hong Kong and Hanoi and continue as published in the winter schedule of Kenya Airways.
