Kenya Airways is counting on its aircrafts currently on lease to Oman and Turkish Air for route expansion and the launch of its direct inaugural Nairobi-New York flights in October. Oman Air is projected to surrender one of the Boeings in its possession in September and the remaining early next year. The three 777-300ERs being used by Turkish airlines will be surrendered between 2019 and 2020.
As soon as the two aircrafts leased to Oman are back, the airline will have a total of 9 aircraft deployed to new destinations.
“They are coming back. We will use them for network expansion for the New York flights and new destinations to be announced in the next two months,” said Sebastian Mikosz, CEO Kenya Airways.
Transport CS James Macharia says the flights would help modernize JKIA which hosts about 7.5 million passengers annually.
“In the coming months, we are going to remodel terminal B, C and D to ensure the ability for JKIA to host more passengers moves up to 12 million and increase the sector’s share to GDP from five per cent to 7.5 per cent,” Macharia said.
