What next after KQ’s US direct flights experience dry spell?

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The launching of direct flight from Kenya to New York experienced a lot of hype. It marked a new dawn to the country. The world was opening doors to Kenya.

The flights were expected to create a ripple effect. The tourism sector was expected to flourish and grow beyond borders.

But it seems Kenya are not traveling any more.

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National carrier Kenya Airways (KQ) has reduced the number of its direct flights to new York, US, over low demand.

This comes barely two weeks since the flight was launched, and will take effect from November 2018 to March 2019. The management says that the decision was taken due to the effects of winter which reduces demand for flights to US.

“The winter schedule for all our flights took effect from October 2018 and will run until March 30, 2019. We cancel flights that are not commercially viable, so this is not unique to this route,” said an official as quoted by Business Daily.

So far, 10 scheduled flights have already been cancelled in the month of November due to low bookings. It was reported that the maiden return flight from US had only 45 passengers on board, against the normal capacity of over 230 passengers.

The airliner says that the 10 cancelled flights were identified three weeks before the inaugural flight to US.

However, it is expected that KQ might not resume normal flight schedule until the start of summer in June next year.

The cash strapped airliner has been suffering losses in the past few years, with operational cost almost matching revenue incomes. At times, the operational cost is higher than the revenue income like the period between and including 2013 to 2015.

This year, KQ reported a Ksh4 billion half-year losses.

DO YOU THINK THE AIR-TICKET IS EXPENSIVE FOR A MWANANCHI TO AFFORD TO FLY TO US?

WHAT MIGHT BE THE OTHER CAUSE OF LOW TRAVELS?

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