Kenya Airways

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  • Swissdiver
    Participant

    I am considering a flight on KQ, the price being rather appealing. But may-be there is a reason hence this request. Have you lately flown on KQ? Did you connect at NBO? How flat is the business class seat on the B787 (looks angled to be)? How is the service? And what’s about KQ’s E190?

    Thanks!

    NB: Threads about KQ being rather old, I started this one.


    SimonS1
    Participant

    I use them quite regularly, but only for regional (Africa) flights. Perfectly acceptable, punctuality has been OK for me, service friendly, mainly on E190. I haven’t used business on 787. I do think they have lost some ground to Rwandair though due to their newer planes.

    Only one issue in recent times when I upgraded on an EBB flight, they tried to shaft me on extra baggage allowance. Only sorted when voices were raised, a supervisor was called and quickly overruled the check in agent.

    Connecting at Nairobi is a lot less inviting. The airport is a dump with overpriced shops and poor lounges. The newer/extended bit is getting tatty already, Chinese construction, cheap and nasty. I gather both the new terminal and second runway projects have now been abandoned….finance arranged with African Development Bank but Kenya could not deliver its 20%, presumably as the wrong snouts were at the trough.

    Overall, if the price is right and the connection time not too long, then go for it.

    1 user thanked author for this post.

    MarkCymru
    Participant

    I’m a big fan.

    The service is not slick or polished, but really great: friendly, efficient and relaxed.

    The old bit of NBO is so bad that it’s almost quaint, but I think others are being a bit unkind about the new international bit of the airport (which KQ uses for all flights outside Kenya). The main KQ lounge is large, well-designed and has decent food and enough seating (but watch out: there’s another one nearby that’s modern, but quite cramped and easy to end up in by mistake) Security is odd, but the gates are fine. Check-in can be slow but this is an airline issue, not an airport one. I’ve never had a problem with KQ, but it one took almost an hour in business on Emirates. You won’t have to worry about check-in anyway, if you’re in transit.

    The E190 regional seats are much nicer than anything you’ll find in Europe (well, except maybe Aeroflot) and a bit nicer than US first class. The 787 is fully flat and the seats are very wide (the downside is 2-2-2, so book a centre seat to get aisle access. I have wide shoulders so I prefer these older biz seats to the heavily-enclosed and rather narrow all-direct access layouts on, for example, Ethiopian). I thoroughly recommended KQ — much nicer than BA on the same route

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