KQ cuts New York flights to 5 a week

KQ chief executive Sebastian Mikosz. FILE PHOTO | NMG

What you need to know:

  • Flights to the US will now be on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday every week.
  • Chief executive Sebastian Mikosz said in the statement the move to adjust frequency a "strategic business decision", adding that the airline remains strongly committed to the New York route and would continue to offer non-stop services to all its guests travelling between the two cities.

Kenya Airways has reduced the number of flights on the newly launched New York route from the current seven to five a week effective January 15.

The national carrier made the announcement on Thursday indicating that flights to the US will now be on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday every week.

“Kenya Airways has today announced that it is adjusting the schedule for its Nairobi-New York route to five flights in a week effective January 15, 2019. Currently, the airline is flying this route daily,” read the statement from the carrier.

Chief executive Sebastian Mikosz said in the statement the move to adjust frequency a "strategic business decision", adding that the airline remains strongly committed to the New York route and would continue to offer non-stop services to all its guests travelling between the two cities.

“As the only airline that offers a non-stop flight between East Africa and the USA, this route remains significant to us because of the role it plays in opening more economic and tourism growth opportunities for Kenya and East Africa,” he said.

“The decision to adjust our schedule is to cater for seasonality in line with global practices that allow airlines to reduce or add frequencies based on low or high seasons.”

He noted that KQ would evaluate the option of reverting to daily flights for the route next summer, just as they had been doing for the Paris and Amsterdam routes.

An earlier statement in November cited low demand during the winter season. This saw KQ cancel several scheduled flights along the new route since the launch in October.

The airline departs from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) at 22:55 on the said days, arriving at John F. Kennedy in New York at 06:25 the following day. It then departs from the US at 12:00, landing at the JKIA at 10:30 the following day.

The national carrier started flying to New York on October 28 with the intention of having daily flights between the US and Kenya.