Daily flights from Nairobi to New York in the United States are slated to begin in October.
This marks a major achievement for Kenya as passengers seeking to travel to the US can now do it within 15 hours, compared to the usual 22 hours due to flight connection and layovers.
Tickets for the direct flights operating between Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) in New York will be up for advance booking starting Thursday this week.
Kenya Airways Chairman Michael Joseph said the airline has already reserved a landing slot at the JFK Airport.
“We are currently loading flights onto our system. We shall go live and ready for bookings on Thursday,” he told Business Daily in an interview.
The daily Nairobi-New York bound flights will depart JKIA at 10:30pm every day and fly for 15 hours.
Joseph said this marks a major economic and development milestone for Kenya.
“The launch of the direct flights between Kenya and the United States will mark a significant milestone for the business and for the country,” noted the KQ Board Chairman.
Return flight from JFK Airport will depart at 1:30pm and arrive in Nairobi at 10:30am the following day.
The flight will have a maximum of 234 passengers on board. The economy class will have 204 passengers while the rest will be on the business class.
KQ had last year announced it would operate the direct flights to the US through a partnership with US carrier Delta Airlines.
But, Delta, Virgin Atlantic and KLM Air France are currently working on a merger which has taken time prompting KQ to take up the direct flights alone.
However, “When this merger is over,” added Joseph, “we may add another flight to the US with a connecting flight through West Africa.”
The direct flights are expected to increase exports to the US.
The Donald Trump led country is Kenya’s biggest source of tourists-about 100, 000 visit Kenya every year according to data Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) data.
The US had given KQ a list of demands to be met before approval to operate direct flights was issued.
Among the things KQ was required to enhance are security, separation of passenger arrival and departure terminals clearing the flight path and fencing off the airport.
Two permits are yet to be granted as the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority Director-General Gilbert Kibe said.
“JFK is yet to be cleared as the last point of departure, a security-based permit to be issued by the US Transportation Security Administration. The other outstanding permit is the technical authority to operate from the FAA,” Kibe stated.
African countries that operate flights to the US include Ethiopian Airlines, South African Airlines.
KQ which is implementing its turnaround strategy to after posting Sh3.8 billion loss hopes the new route will bring in more revenue.