Kenya Airways begins daily flights to Guangzhou

Kenya Airways said on Wednesday it will start of daily flights between Bangkok, Guangzhou and Nairobi next month, boosting the connections between Africa and China.

The daily flights which are scheduled to start on April 1, serviced by a Boeing 767 aircraft will depart from the airline's hub at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi at 23:35 local time daily, arriving in Bangkok at 13:15 local time.

Kenya Airways' CEO Dr Titus Naikuni said in a statement issued in Nairobi that the flight will then leave at 15:05 local time to proceed to Guangzhou at 19:00 local time, which is a major industrial and commercial hub in China. The return flight is through Bangkok as well.

"This daily service will contribute towards sustainable development in Africa by linking it to the rest of the world," Naikuni added.

In December 2012, Kenya Airways announced its expansion into China through code share agreement signed with China Eastern Airlines, a partnership that will boost the national carrier's expansion into the Far East.

The agreement provides a framework for China Eastern Airlines to market and sell Kenya Airways' flights from Shanghai and vice versa for Kenya Airways.

The national carrier hopes to strengthen its presence in China by offering better connection options to its passengers from Africa and its association with China Eastern Airlines gives it an opportunity to offer our customers a seamless connection to and from China.

Under the agreement between Kenya Airways and China Eastern Airlines, KQ will code share on daily services between Bangkok and Shanghai, while China Eastern Airlines will code share on daily Kenya Airways service between Bangkok and Nairobi.

Kenya Airways is one of the dominant airlines in Africa and is responsible for flying a large number of African traders to Chinese market. Other major airlines include South Africa Airways, Ethiopia Airways and Egypt Air.

On Wednesday, Naikuni said the introduction of daily flights between the three cities comes as the airline celebrates 36 years since it made its maiden flight.

Naikuni said that the daily service from Nairobi to Bangkok and Guangzhou would be convenient for passengers taking connecting flights to the 48 different African destinations that the airline flies to.

The airline has also introduced new direct flights between Hong Kong and Dubai, operating three times a week.

The new flights with night departures are part of its new Hong Kong summer schedule for 2013 between March 31 and October 26 which also includes flights between Nairobi and Dubai.

The thrice-a-week flights from Hong Kong to Dubai with extended connection to Middle East destinations will also strengthen the connection from Hong Kong to Africa.

Naikuni says passenger and cargo business between Africa and China is one of the factors that will drive the growth of the airline.

"There is the obvious big shift as engagement between Africa and the East, rather than the west is growing faster. We are positioning ourselves to take advantage of the emerging travel needs," he said told Xinhua recently.

Trade between Africa and China has grown exponentially in the last ten years making China, Africa's biggest trading partner among other continental blocs.

Last year, Kenya Airways introduced a 120-ton cargo plane that will fly from Nairobi to China, to cater for increasing need for air cargo transport between the two destinations.

Kenya Airways is a leading airline in Africa flying to 45 destinations on the continent. Being a member of the SkyTeam Alliance, Kenya Airways' passengers have access to the member airlines' worldwide network and passenger facilities in 926 destinations in 173 countries.