Kenya Airways has increased its route offering by launching flights to Rome, Italy and Geneva, Switzerland – the airline’s 4th and 5th European destinations after Amsterdam, London and Paris. The introduction of these routes is part of Kenya Airways’ network expansion strategy steered towards growing its market share, increasing revenues and financial turnaround.
Sebastian Mikosz, Kenya Airways Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer said, “These new routes will play an important role in facilitating more business and tourism opportunities and strengthening Nairobi as the top business hub. With 5 European destinations and 55 worldwide from Nairobi, KQ offers Africa the best connectivity to the rest of the world and vice versa.”
The Geneva flights will be connected to Nairobi as circular flights with Rome, Italy, which is one of Kenya’s top source markets for corporate and leisure travellers. Over 65,000 tourists from Italy visited Kenya in 2018.
As part of the strategy to capture these travellers and boost Kenya’s tourism industry, KQ this week commenced direct fights between Nairobi and Malindi, the primary destination for most Italian tourists and also home to a large proportion of the Italian community in Kenya. KQ has also finalized a codeshare deal with Alitalia, the Italian SkyTeam’s partner, to enhance connectivity on this route and offer more options to passengers in Italy and from Africa.
“The growth of the airline’s revenues is pegged on the expansion of its network which is only possible with additional capacity. KQ will this year see the return of its 9th B787-8 from Oman Air, as scheduled, to support the network expansion into Rome and Geneva,” said Mikosz.
Since 2018, Kenya Airways has focused on expanding its network as part of the airline’s growth strategy and as a result increasing the airline’s capacity measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs). Four new routes, namely Mauritius, New York, Libreville and Mogadishu have since been launched. KQ also increased flights to Amsterdam and Paris and added a direct flight to Cape Town.
Leisure and corporate travelers on the Geneva and Rome routes will enjoy a range of new service introductions including extra leg room, access to KQ’s business class lounges and an improved menu.
The airline will operate the new routes four times weekly using its flagship aircraft Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.