•Kenya Airways became the first airline to offer a non-stop flight between East Africa and the United States of America.
•The airline already serves Africa, Europe, Middle-East, Indian sub-continent and Asia.
Kenya Airways and Delta Air Lines have expanded their codeshare agreement, increasing the choice of destinations and extending Kenya Airways’ reach in North America via the U.S. gateway of New York-JFK.
The new agreement enhances the airlines’ already extensive codeshare network to offer seamless travel to a total of 39 cities across Africa, the United States and Canada.
The enhanced agreement enables Delta customers flying nonstop on the airline’s services from New York-JFK to Accra, Ghana, to connect with Delta-marketed codeshare flights to Monrovia, Liberia, and Freetown, Sierra Leone, operated by Kenya Airways.
Delta-marketed codeshare flights will also be available on Kenya Airways’ services from Nairobi to Cape Town, South Africa; Harare, Zimbabwe; and Kigali, Rwanda.
From New York-JFK, Kenya Airways has placed its code on Delta’s services to Washington’s Ronald Regan National Airport, offering customers increased access to the U.S. capital, as well as to Indianapolis, Indiana.
Delta’s E.V.P and President International Alain Bellemare said strengthening the partnership with Kenya Airways responds to customer demand for more travel choice between the continent and North America.
“These codeshare services will offer customers greater access to destinations in South, West and East Africa, rounding out Delta’s existing network of nonstop services to Accra, Dakar, Johannesburg and Lagos,” Bellemare said.
Kenya Airways Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Julius Thairu said the partnership remains central to Kenyan's plans of offering the fastest connections to the Americas from Nairobi hub.
"...and is in-line with our brand promise of enabling the sustainable development of Africa by providing access to different markets,”he said.
Thairu said in addition to Washington’s Ronald Regan National Airport and Indianapolis, Indiana, other destinations Kenya has within the codeshare are New York: Chicago O’Hare – Illinois, Denver – Colorado, Orlando – Florida, Miami – Florida, Raleigh Durham - North Carolina, Phoenix – Arizona, Charlotte - North Carolina.
Kenya Airways marked a great milestone with the launch of a non-stop flight from Nairobi to New York in 2019.
Kenya Airways became the first airline to offer a non-stop flight between East Africa and the United States of America.
The airline already serves Africa, Europe, Middle-East, Indian sub-continent and Asia.
The opening of the US destination completes an essential piece for Kenya Airways’ network, cementing its position as one of the leading African carriers.
The ultra-long-haul flight, unique to Kenya Airways network, will require 4 Pilots and 12 Flight attendants as well as 85 tons of fuel each way, making it an exceptional operation.
The airline operates its state of the art Boeing 787 Dreamliner with a capacity of 234 passengers.