KENYA AIRWAYS STARTS DISPOSAL OF SURPLUS LONG HAUL FLEET
(Posted 13th January 2016)
US based Omni Air Internatinal has been named as the buyer of two of Kenya Airways surplus long haul Boeing B777-200ER’s, the start of the disposal phase of several such planes which were replaced with state of the art Boeing B787-8’s. Already in November at the ATA’s 40th anniversary congress in Nairobi did Group CEO Mbuvi Ngunze confirm to this correspondent that the sale of some planes was in its final stages without however being able to give specific details as to the potential buyers. The first aircraft will leave for the US before the end of January already while the second one will join her sister-ship a few weeks later as both aircraft are prepared for handover.
There has been speculation at the time over interest shown by Pakistan’s flag carrier PIA, talking of the potential purchase of between two and four B777-200ER’s, something which may or may not still be on the agenda now that two of these B777 variants have been sold.
Kenya Airways had employed the services of an international aircraft brokerage firm to help them source buyers and again was it not confirmed that the just announced sale was put together by Cabot Aviation.
According to an Embakasi based source will further announcements on the sale of the remaining B777-200ER’s be made in a couple of weeks, saying this was not the time to reveal further details while sensitive negotiations were ongoing with other potential buyers.
There is no indication at present that the other B777 variant operated by Kenya Airways, the B777-300ER, will be retained on the fleet or else also be sold. For breaking and regular aviation news from Eastern Africa look no further but this space.
