New Delhi now officially Kenya Airways’ 57th destination
The inaugural flight to the Indian capital departed from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at 1350hrs with a high-powered team led by the chairman of the airline’s board of directors Evanson Mwaniki.
New Delhi becomes the airline’s 57th destination, the latest since the airline launched flights to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia in October last year. It will also be the second destination that Kenya Airways flies to in the Indian sub-continent; the other being Mumbai.
“We are growing our presence in the Asian continent. Our decision to fly to New Delhi is informed by the growing economic linkages between Asia and Africa,” said Dr Naikuni, noting that India and China are of special importance to the airline’s growth strategy.
He added, “KQ will be flying to New Delhi four times a week on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. I encourage Africa to take advantage of this new service which has good connections to Intra-Africa flights.”
India is significant to Kenya given the two countries’ long-standing relations dating back several centuries. Trade between the two countries stands at about $2.5 billion annually. India is also emerging as an importance source market for Kenya’s tourism market. Besides trade, thousands of Kenyans have studied in India; there also many Indians living in the Kenyan Diaspora.
On Monday evening, Kenya Airways hosted its partners and key personalities in business and diplomatic circles to a dinner in Nairobi. Mwaniki noted that India was central to the airline’s bid to consolidate its presence in the Asian market.
