BY DAVID ONJILI: Direct flights to New York: Kenya Airways direct flight to New York was bound to fail. This is based on route and market research.
Kenya initially was to have direct flights to Atlanta and not New York. Delta Airlines was scheduled to be the carrier. How KQ became the airline for direct flights nobody knows.
The direct route that KQ was delving in was never planned. I challenge anyone who has or did the feasibility study to bring it forward.
Ethiopian Airlines operates direct flights to USA albeit it is from DC but what’s key is Bole International Airport. It is a transit point for many flights esp into Asia.
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is not even quarter way near what Bole handles in terms of passenger traffic and cargo. Nonetheless, JKIA is better in terms of size and infrastructure.
KQ does not even operate a modern fleet on that route. The Dreamliner that KQ uses is an old model compared to the ones Ethiopia uses.
Last, what is it that KQ is doing or offering that’s special that other airlines from Africa which fly directly on that route do not offer? Name it. Truth is like cream, eventually it rises. You cannot run a country on PR.