Kenya Airways, the first airline to offer
daily direct flights between the US and East Africa, made its maiden flight on
Sunday (October 28) when its Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner departed Jomo Kenyatta
International Airport (JKIA) at 23h20 for John F. Kennedy International Airport
(JFK), arriving around 14h51 on Monday (October 29).
Kenyatta took to Twitter, saying: “It is
historic for Kenya’s aviation sector to witness the inaugural direct flights
between Nairobi and New York finally take off. The direct air link between our
country and the US presents great opportunities in trade, tourism and
people-to-people relations.”
The US is currently Kenya’s second
strongest source market, mentioned Mohammed
Hersi, chairman of the Kenya Tourism
Federation and group director of operations at Pollman Tours and Safaris. With
this, Hersi
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin;background:white">foresees the new flights
affecting other markets such as Canada and Central America, saying: “We are now
going to target South America aggressively. Canada will also find it easier to
come to Kenya and East Africa…The eight to 12 hours transit has been cut to
zero with the direct flights.”
