Kenya Airways

Kenya Airways Ltd., more commonly known as Kenya Airways, is the flag carrier and largest airline of Kenya. The company was founded in 1977, after the dissolution of East African Airways.^[3][5] The carrier's head office is located in Embakasi, Nairobi, with its hub at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.^[6][7]

The airline was wholly owned by the Government of Kenya until April 1995 (1995-04), and it was privatised in 1996, becoming the first African flag carrier in successfully doing so.^[5] Kenya Airways is currently a public-private partnership. The largest shareholder is KLM (26%), followed by the Government of Kenya, which has a 23% stake in the company.^[8] The rest of the shares are held by private owners; shares are traded in the Nairobi Stock Exchange, the Dar-es-Salaam Stock Exchange, and the Ugandan Securities Exchange.^[5][9] The cargo handling company African Cargo Handling Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kenya Airways; partly owned companies are Kenya Airfreight Handling Limited, dedicated to the cargo handling of perishable goods and 51%-owned, and Tanzanian carrier Precision Air (49%-owned).^[4]

Kenya Airways is widely considered as one of the leading Sub-Saharan operators.^[10] The carrier became a full member of SkyTeam in June 2010, and is also a member of the African Airlines Association since 1977.^[11][12]

History

Kenya Airways was established by the Kenyan Government on 22 January 1977, following the break-up of the East African Community and the consequent demise of East African Airways (EAA).^[11][13] It started operations on 4 February 1977, with two Boeing 707–321s leased from British Midland Airways.^[14][15] Aer Lingus provided the company with technical and management support in the early years.^[16] The carrier also inherited two Douglas DC-9-32s and two Fokker F27-200s from EAA.^[17][18] The following year, the company formed a charter subsidiary named Kenya Flamingo Airlines, which leased aircraft from the parent airline in order to operate international passenger and cargo services.^[19]

In 1986, Sessional Paper Number 1 was published by the Government of Kenya, outlining the country's need for economic development and growth. The document stressed the government opinion that the airline would be better off if owned by private interests, thus resulting in the first attempt to privatise the airline. The government named Philip Ndegwa as Chairman of the Board in 1991, with specific orders to make the airline a privately-owned company. In 1992, the Public Enterprise Reform paper was published, giving Kenya Airways priority among national companies in Kenya to be privatised.^[11]

In the fiscal year 1993 to 1994, the airline produced its first profit since the start of commercialisation.^[20] Also, in 1994 the International Finance Corporation was appointed to provide assistance in the privatisation process, which effectively began in 1995.^[21] British Airways, KLM, Lufthansa and South African Airways, all held interest in Kenya Airways.^[20][21][22] KLM was eventually awarded the privatisation of the company, which restructured its debts and made a master corporation agreement with the Dutch airline that bought 26% of the shares, becoming the largest single shareholder since then.^[21][23][24] The Government of Kenya kept a 23% stake in the company, and offered the remaining 51% to the public; however, non-Kenyan shareholders could at most had a participation of 49% into the airline.^[21][23][24] Shares were floated to the public in March 1996 (1996-03), and the airline started trading on the Nairobi Stock Exchange.^[25] Following the takeover, the Government of Kenya capitalised US$70,000,000 ($97,991,062 in 2012), while the airline was awarded a US$15 million loan from IFC to modernise its fleet.^[21]

KLM sponsored the joining process of the company to SkyTeam in mid-2005.^[26] In September 2007 (2007-09), the alliance welcomed Kenya Airways as one of the first official SkyTeam Associate Airlines.^[27][28] SkyTeam upgraded the status of the company to a full membership in June 2010 (2010-06).^[29][30]

Destinations

Alliance

Kenya Airways is a full member of SkyTeam since June 2010 (2010-06).^[30] The alliance provides Kenya Airways' passengers with access to the member airlines' worldwide network and passenger facilities.^[31][32]

Codeshare agreements

As of December 2011^[update], the carrier has codeshare agreements with the following companies, which are the actual operators on the routes specified in parenthesis:^[33][34]

Fleet

Kenya Airways has nine Boeing 787 Dreamliners on order, despite the company considered the cancellation of the order after systematic delays with the delivery dates.^[35][36] The airline received a monetary compensation from Boeing for the delays.^[37]

The company announced in late February 2011 its intention of acquiring a freighter aircraft to boost cargo capacity on African operations.^[38] So far, Kenya Airways cargo division has been using belly capacity on its operations.

As of November 2011^[update], the carrier's fleet consists of the following aircraft:

The fleet age is 8.3 years, as of October 2011^[update].^[43]

Retired

The company previously operated the following equipment:^[44]

Livery

In 2005, Kenya Airways changed its livery. The four stripes running all through the length of the fuselage were replaced by the company slogan Pride of Africa, whereas the KA tail logo was replaced by a styled K encircled with a Q to evoke the airline's IATA airline code.

Services

Out of a five-star ranking, the company ranks as a three-star airline according to Skytrax.^[49]

Frequent flyer programmes

Former Kenya Airways' frequent flyer programme Msafiri was merged with KLM's Flying Dutchman in 1997,^[11] which was in turn merged with that of Air France and rebranded as Flying Blue in 2005, following the fusion of both companies. Gold Elite and Platinum Elite members of the Flying Blue programme are offered the JV Lounge.^[50] This service is provided to Kenya Airways passengers, and to passengers flying with its partner airlines as well.^[50] Simba Lounge is a service provided to Kenya Airways Business passengers only.^[50] Both lounges are located at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.^[50]

In-flight entertainment

Different in-flight entertainment is available depending upon the aircraft and the class travelled. The airline's in-flight magazine is called Msafiri, and is distributed among the passengers in all aircraft, irrespective of the class.^[51]

Accidents and incidents

According to Aviation Safety Network, as of September 2011^[update] Kenya Airways records two fatal accidents, out of 4 accidents/incidents.^[57]

Accidents involving fatalities

• 30 January 2000: Flight 431 was a scheduled Abidjan–Lagos–Nairobi service, operated with an Airbus A310-304, registration 5Y-BEN, that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean and broke up, about a minute after it took off from Abidjan's Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport. There were 179 souls aboard, of whom ten were crewmembers; most of the occupants were Nigerians.^[58] 169 people perished in the accident. This was the first crash experienced by the carrier.^[59]
• 5 May 2007: Flight 507, operated with a Boeing 737-800, tail number 5Y-KYA, crashed into a mangrove swamp immediately after take-off for Nairobi, about 5.5 kilometres (3.42 mi) southeast of Douala International Airport.^[60] The flight originated in Abidjan, with a stopover in Douala to pick up passengers.^[60] There were 114 people onboard, 105 passengers from 23 countries—the majority of them Cameroonians— plus 9 crew members; all of them perished in the accident.^[61][62]

Non-fatal hull-losses

• 10 July 1988: A Fokker F27-200, tail number 5Y-BBS, approached the runway too fast and made a belly landing at Kisumu Airport inbound from Nairobi as Flight 650, skidding down the runway for some 600 m (2,000 ft).^[63]
• 11 July 1989: A Boeing 707-320B, registration 5Y-BBK, overran the runway at Bole International Airport following a brake failure. The aircraft had departed from the same airport, and the non-retraction of the landing gear prompted the crew to return.^[64][65]

See also

• Air France-KLM
• Transport in Kenya

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Media related to Kenya Airways at Wikimedia Commons