Kenya Airways voted best continental airline

NAIROBI. Kenya Airways has been voted the 2006 African Airline of choice by readers of Travel News magazine.

The magazine has been carrying out the award scheme since 1998. In addition to the best continental airline, over 5 000 readers, mainly from East Africa voted KQ as the best regional and local airline respectively.

The airline said in a statement yesterday the readers voted flying blue, the airline’s joint frequent flier programme with KLM, and Msafiri, the in flight magazine, the best in the respective categories.

Kenya Airways connects over 30 African cities and commercial centres with the rest of the world through its Jomo Kenyatta International Airport hub in Nairobi. Early this year, the airline added Benin and Monrovia to its West Africa route network.

The airline also covers Central Africa, Southern Africa and East Africa. KQ has recently been involved in modernising its fleet to meet its increasing passenger capacity as a result of the route expansion on both regional and continental routes.

The airline said in a statement issued in Nairobi that it will, since this month, take delivery of the first of three Embraer 170s to add to its all Boeing fleet.

"KQ will acquire the three aeroplanes under operating lease from GE Commercial Aviation Services.

"The second Embraer will be delivered next month while a third in June, 2008," the statement said. The three will replace the aging SAABS and will be deployed on some of the airline’s significant medium-haul routes.

The aircraft is configured in a comfortable single class layout, sitting 72 passengers. The airline has a 21 Boeing fleet, consisting of 737s, 767s and 777s.

It will become the third major African airliner to order the 787 Dreamliner. It suffered a setback early this month when its Boeing 737-800 crashed in Cameroon some few minutes after takeoff, killing 114 passengers on board. — Xinhua.

Source: www.herald.co.zw