The partnership is bound to boost business travel and tourism between Italy and Kenya, giving tourists and business travellers more travel options and better flight schedules also when travelling to central and southern Africa and to Europe through the two airlines’ hubs in Rome and Nairobi.

The new codeshare flights are available for sale through the airlines’ reservation systems and in travel agencies from 14 March 2019, for travels from 12 June 2019 when Kenya Airways will inaugurate its four-weekly service between Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi and Leonardo da Vinci International Airport in Fiumicino, Rome.

Alitalia will apply its ‘AZ’ code on many services operated by Kenya Airways beyond Nairobi to Mombasa and Kisumu in Kenya, as well as to a further 19 African destinations, such as: Abidjan (Ivory Coast); Accra (Ghana); Addis Ababa (Ethiopia); Antananarivo (Madagascar); Brazzaville (Congo); Dar Es Salaam, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar (Tanzania); Douala (Cameroon); Johannesburg (South Africa); Kigali (Rwanda); Khartoum (Sudan); Kinshasa and Lubumbashi (Democratic Republic of Congo); Lagos (Nigeria); Maputo and Nampula (Mozambique); Moroni-Hahaya (Comoros); Seychelles.

Alitalia is also widening its network in Africa, where the Italian airline now operates direct services to Johannesburg, Casablanca, Algeri, Tunis and Cairo, by placing its “AZ” flight code on Kenya Airways’ new service between Rome and Nairobi.

Kenya Airways will expand its offer to Italy and Europe by placing its ‘KQ’ flight code on Alitalia’s services from Rome to 16 Italian domestic destinations (Brindisi, Bologna, Bari, Catania, Florence, Genoa, Lamezia Terme, Milan Malpensa, Naples, Palermo, Pisa, Reggio Calabria, Turin, Trieste, Venice and Verona) and to 9 international destinations (Athens, Barcelona, Casablanca, Geneva, Larnaca, Madrid, Malaga, Malta and Valencia).

Flight will operate four times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, with flights departing Rome at 10h10, arriving in Johannesburg at 08h20 the following day. The return service will depart Johannesburg on Wednesdays, Fridays, Sundays and Monday at 09h00, arriving in Rome at 07h25.

Flights will be operated with a 250-seat Airbus A330 aircraft in a three class configuration offering Magnifica business class, Premium Economy and Economy.

Also, starting from 28 October, 2018 during its winter operating season, Alitalia will introduce a thrice weekly service between Rome and Mauritius using A330 aircraft with a three class configuration.

The new Rome-Mauritius service will be operated with the following schedule:

Flights will depart Rome on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 21h15, arriving in Mauritius at 10h35 the following morning. The return service will depart Mauritius on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 12h25, arriving in Rome at 20h20.