- The airline had temporarily suspended flights to the country in August 2020.
- The Airline has also resumed direct flights to Bangkok.
Image: FILE
Kenya Airways will from February 14, 2024, resume non-stop flights to Mogadishu, Somalia, after three years break.
The company announced it will fly three times weekly to Mogadishu.
The flights will be scheduled every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday starting from USD 1050 (Sh160,751)
For Wednesday and Saturday flights, KQ said it would leave Nairobi at 14:00 and arrive in Mogadishu at 15:45, with flight number KQ362, while flight number KQ363 will leave Mogadishu at 16:35 and arrive in Nairobi 18:20.
The airline temporarily suspended flights to the country in August 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The news is part of KQ's network expansion strategy and commitment aimed at enhancing connectivity across the African continent to contribute to long-term economic progress.
Chief Commercial and Customer Officer Julius Thairu said the move aligns with the increasing business and the growing number of air travel between Kenya and Somalia.
“We are eager about the potential of re-establishing the link between Mogadishu and Nairobi through KQ. Kenya Airways is committed to providing high-quality service for our customers, as we work together to foster trade and investment for sustained growth," he said.
The Airline has also resumed direct flights to Bangkok, three years after it suspended the route over the Covid-19 pandemic.
It said the route re-opening comes with five weekly flights from Nairobi.
"This is to provide travellers from Africa with convenient connections via Nairobi to the popular tourist destination in Thailand," said Julius Thairu, KQ's chief commercial and customer officer.
He said this would expand KQ’s current network to 42 destinations, offering travellers into and out of Africa, connections via Nairobi to Thai destination.
Mwai said the airline is taking a proactive approach to expanding international routes.
The route was launched in 2003 and suspended in 2020 a period that also saw the airline suspend the Djibouti, Mogadishu and Khartoum flights.
The Covid-19 period also saw KQ reduce flights; for instance, flights to Dubai were cut from two to one a day.
Flights to London were cut from seven to five while flights from JKIA to Johannesburg were slashed to two.
KQ hopes to bank on the re-opening of the Nairobi-Bangkok route to woo more travellers during the Christmas period.
It also re-introduced daily flights to New York from December 1, a move that the carrier said will seek to tap into the growing travel demand during festivities.