Kenya’s national carrier, Kenya Airways (KQ), has signed a short-term lease agreement with Hi Fly, the lease and charter specialist to enhance operational capacity and efficiency during the peak Christmas and New Year festive season.
The ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance) lease will see the immediate introduction of an A330 Airbus into the KQ fleet. Also known as wet or damp leasing, ACMI leasing is an agreement between two airlines, where the lessor agrees to provide an aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance to the lessee in return for payment on the number of block hours operated.
The wide-bodied aircraft has a capacity for 299 passengers, split into 24 in the business cabin and 275 in the economy class. And as a wide-bodied plane, it augments the existing cargo space with additional belly capacity.
Kenya Airways Group Managing Director and CEO, Mr Allan Kilavuka, said the airline needed to take practical steps in the short-term to address the pertinent challenges in the market. “With the current capacity constraints on the back of the growing demand for airline travel, we need to balance our customers’ immediate needs by bringing more capacity into the market,” said Mr Kilavuka.
The arrival of the aircraft will also support the anticipated increased number of travellers following the recent announcement by President William Ruto removing visa requirements fo visitors to Kenya starting January in 2024 making Kenya visa-free country.
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According to Mr Kilavuka, this was the quickest way to immediately deal with capacity challenges because it enables us to get an aircraft that is ready to fly. “With the arrival of the aircraft, we expect to see improved operational stability and efficiency, as well as enhanced capacity for the convenience of our passengers,” Mr Kilavuka said.
KQ’s fleet comprises of wide-body Boeing aircraft that includes its flagship B787 Dreamliner and narrow-body Embraer E190 aircraft. The on-board service is renowned worldwide and the lie-flat business class seat on the wide body aircraft is consistently voted among the world’s top 10.
Kenya Airways, a member of the Sky Team Alliance, is a leading African airline flying to 42 destinations worldwide, 35 of them in Africa.
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