Increasing Fleet Capacity
Kenya Airways gets extra B737 from KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
(eTN) - The cooperation between Kenya Airways (KQ) and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has again shown to bear fruit when a B737-300 arrived in Kenya, still painted in KLM livery, to join the fleet of the "Pride of Africa." According to a well-placed KQ source, the aircraft will be deployed on the Nairobi to Mombasa route and is likely to appear also on some other regional destinations, a boost to KQ’s expressed plans to offer more flights on routes with growing demand.
The arrival of the extra aircraft – we could not ascertain as yet how long the lease will last – will also serve notice to KQ’s competitors on domestic and regional routes, where other privately-owned airlines like Fly540, Jetlink, and East African Safari Air have made inroads in KQ’s previously dominant position and cemented their own positions with more flights and faster and more comfortable newer aircraft, also saving on fuel. KQ, in their latest press releases, had to acknowledge a reduction in domestic traffic, attributed to the fact of having withdrawn from Lamu due to availability of a suitable aircraft, and from Malindi – something under active consideration to maybe resume flights there, according to another source.
Kenya Airways is expecting more aircraft later in the year, including two E190 Embraer jets, but clearly wanted to add capacity to their fleet as the market shows strong signs of traffic growth, without leaving the field to their domestic and regional competitors while waiting for aircraft deliveries to take place.
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