Kenya Airways has defended its higher air ticket prices relative to other airlines. This follows a fare comparison done by the Centre for Aviation showed that KQ charged about $2,300 (about Sh230,000) on the Nairobi-London route, compared to Ethiopian Airline’s charge of $949 (about Sh94,900) and South African Airways’ $887 (about Sh88,700).
KQ chief executive Mbuvi Ngunze on Thursday said the airline’s tickets are only priced higher during peak demand, when travellers book late and according to quality of services.
“Remember we are coming off a fairly high season, the peak period of travel — from June through to August and early September,” Mr Ngunze told a press briefing in Nairobi, adding that the airline was competitive, currently flying between “10,000 and 12,000 people every day.”
“You could find incidents where, say, eight ticket prices have been booked in the last minute which could trigger that (higher fee), but it is not representative of the average price.” Among the poor decisions being cited is the lack of a fallback plan for the ambitious ‘Mawingu’ expansion project and bad decisions on leasing of aircraft.
