Kenya Airways on the upswing in performance and connectivity

(eTN) – In the first quarter of 2013, Kenya Airways (KQ) offered a total capacity of 3,464m seat kilometers, which gives a year-on-year growth of 3 percent.

(eTN) – In the first quarter of 2013, Kenya Airways (KQ) offered a total capacity of 3,464m seat kilometers, which gives a year-on-year growth of 3 percent. During the quarter under review, from April to June 2013, the airline also launched three weekly flights into Livingstone, the third destination in Zambia after Lusaka and Ndola.

The capacity into the Middle and Far East regions grew by 12.8 percent, largely driven by the introduction of daily flights to Guangzhou via Bangkok combining with the increased deployment of larger B777 equipment to Bombay. Capacity put into Europe was at par with the same quarter of the prior year despite the withdrawal from Rome, mainly because of two additional weekly frequencies to Paris.

The total capacity offered into the Northern African region remained flat compared to the prior year despite the introduction of a third daily frequency to Juba because of the inevitable cutbacks made to Cairo following the volatile political situation in Egypt. The capacity offered in the East Africa region grew by 12.9 percent occasioned by increased early morning departures to Entebbe, which is now served 5 times a day and additional Dar es Salaam frequencies and daily night stops.

Capacity in Southern Africa region grew by 10.4 percent largely because of the increased night-time operations into Lusaka and Lilongwe as well as the introduction of Livingstone. The 10.9 percent decline in capacity seen in the West and Central African regions was driven mainly by the suspension of Bangui, Ouagadougou, Nโ€™Djamena, and Libreville destinations due to reduced demand.
On the domestic front, capacity grew by 11.6 percent compared to the same quarter last year due to the re-launch of Eldoret in October 2012 and the additional two daily flights into Kisumu including a night stop.

Passenger traffic measured in revenue passenger kilometers at 2,330m grew by 5.8 percent ahead of the same quarter last year. The total passenger carrying at 932,912 was 10.9 percent more compared to similar period last year achieving a cabin factor of 67.3 percent against prior yearโ€™s level of 65.5 percent.

The passenger uplift to Europe at 90,517 shows some recovery compared to last yearโ€™s level with an achieved cabin factor of 68.5 percent being better than prior yearโ€™s 66.8 percent.

In the Middle and Far East regions, uplifted passenger traffic at 139,275 showed a 12.3 percent improvement over the year 2012. The cabin load factor of 70.2 percent for flights to and from this region was 2.1 percentage points better than last year.

Within Africa but excluding Kenya, passengers uplifted totaled 480,604 indicating a growth of 9.4 percent because of the reasons already mentioned earlier. The resultant passenger cabin factor of 63.7 percent was, however, unchanged from a year ago.

Notably, the passengers uplifted within Kenya at 222,516 grew by 22.1 percent with an improved cabin load factor of 76.8 percent, an increase of 3.6 percentage points due to the resurgence of business traffic in the country.

Early indications for July, the first month of Q2, suggest a continued trend as seen emerge from Q1 of the airlineโ€™s financial year, giving hope for significant financial improvements on the bottom line, too.

Kenya Airways also just announced that their daily flights from Nairobi to Kigali/Rwanda and to Bujumbura/Burundi will be enhanced to provide yet better connectivity between the two westernmost member states of the East African Community and their hub in Nairobi, from where the region connects to the entire KQ network across Africa, Europe, the Middle and Far East, and vice versa.

The Pride of Africa has with immediate effect introduced additional city pairs to both capitals routing four times a week Nairobi Kigali Bujumbura Nairobi and three times a week Nairobi Bujumbura Kigali Nairobi.

The twice daily direct flights, in the mornings and evenings, to each of the two East African cities are in addition to the existing flights from Nairobi, passing through Kigali and Bujumbura and back every day.

In the mornings, the new direct flight to Kigali will depart Nairobi at 0745 hours Kenyan time every day while at 0905 hours Rwandan time โ€“ there is an hour time difference between the two cities โ€“ it will set off for the return flight. In the evenings, it will leave Nairobi at 1700 hours Kenyan time for Kigali, departing Kigali at 1820 hours Rwandan time. The direct flights to Bujumbura will leave Nairobi at 0810 hours Kenyan time every morning while the return flight will depart at 0940 hours Burundian time, also considering the one hour time difference with Nairobi. The evening flight leaves Nairobi at 1730 hours Kenyan time, returning from Bujumbura at 1900 hours.

Kenya Airwaysโ€™ Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Titus Naikuni, said that the new service aims at enhancing convenient travel and trade among East African countries following the implementation of the common market protocol that paved way for free movement of people, goods, and services within the region.

โ€œThese twice a day direct flights from Nairobi to Kigali and Bujumbura tie in with our plans to fly to every African capital by 2016 as we seek to contribute to the sustainable development of Africa,โ€ said Dr. Naikuni, quoted in a media release just received here.

The new direct flights to Kigali and Bujumbura add to Kenya Airwaysโ€™ current combined night flight that serves the two cities. Every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday, this flight departs from Nairobi at 2350 hours (Kenyan time) for Kigali, leaves Kigali for Bujumbura at 0105 (Rwandan time), and arrives back in Nairobi at 0520 hours (Kenyan time). On Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, the flight leaves Nairobi for Bujumbura at 2350 hours (Kenyan time), leaves Bujumbura for Kigali at 0125 hours (Burundian time), and arrives back in Nairobi at 0525 hours (Kenyan time) from Kigali. All services are operated on a two-class Embraer E190 jet, which has over the past few years become the regional workhorse aircraft. Two more E190s are expected to be delivered in Nairobi this year, the first additional brand new aircraft this month, and one more in a few weeksโ€™ time.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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