LUFTHANSA ANNOUNCES RETURN TO NAIROBI AFTER AN 18 YEAR ABSENCE
(Posted 10th June 2015)
On the 27th of October will Germany’s Lufthansa return with nonstop flights from Frankfurt to Nairobi, after an absence of some 18 years. Information at hand suggests that the Star Alliance member will initially offer four flights a week, leaving Frankfurt on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays before on the 11th of December a fifth flight will be added, operating on a Friday.
System information also confirms that the aircraft used will be a three class Airbus A340-300 offering First, Business and Economy class cabins.
Until now has Lufthansa relied on code shared flights with partners Swiss and Brussels Airlines to connect their passengers to Nairobi and the change of heart after so many years will no doubt be welcomed by Kenya’s tourism and business community, considering the reputation of the airline and the boost for destination marketing.
Only a few days ago had the airline stated that route expansion will only take place to destinations where there can be a reasonably expectation of profits and this seems to be the underlying cause for the gradual stepping up of frequencies instead of coming back with daily flights from the start.
When the airline discontinued flights to Nairobi, to the consternation of many at the time after serving the route uninterrupted for decades, was one of the reasons advanced the sale of the Airbus A310 fleet, leaving them with no suitable alternative aircraft. Aviation pundits however tended to believe that the airline was not willing to accept the low yields on the route, inspite of very high loadfactors for their then daily flights. Lufthansa Cargo services notably continued throughout for the uplift of flowers and fresh produce from Kenya to the German and other European markets.
