Kenya Airways (KQ) is set to unveil its brand new B787 aircraft on the Lagos route effective June 10, 2024 in line with its growth strategy in the Nigeria market.
Speaking to members of the media recently, the airline’s Chief Commercial and Customer Officer, Mr. Julius THAIRU said, “Nigeria is an important market for Kenya Airways and the 2nd biggest in Africa after South Africa. Our business thrives on being close to our customers and seeing what we can do to improve our service and we pride ourselves as an airline that puts Africa first.and connects Africa”
Speaking further, the CCCO said, “We have been flying to Lagos since 1998 and we would like to encourage more Nigerians to come to Kenya for tourism and other business activities,” adding that, “Our mission is to drive prosperity in Africa by connecting people cultures and markets.”
Underscoring the importance of the Nigerian market, Mr. Thairu went on to disclose that the airline will be increasing its frequency on the route from the current daily (7 weekly) flights to ten (10) weekly flights with plans to further increase the service to double daily flights in the future in an effort to promote good connectivity.”
“We are also considering opening up a new city in Nigeria. So we are.looking at opening up Abuja some time next year to increase access into Kenya and other African countries and beyond Africa.”
He also revealed that Nigeria currently stands at number 16 among the key source markets for arrivals for tourists in Kenya.
“We are.also challenging ourselves including tourism boards and hotels to figure out what we need to do more to encourage more Nigerians to come to Kenya. So from next week we shall be flying our biggest aircraft, the B787 with a beautiful livery designed with rhinos and elephants on it,” he enthused thus depicting Kenya as a thriving tourism destination.
Also, a part of its growth strategy, Mr. Thairu declared with excitement that, “We are also starting our own Customer Loyalty Programme called ASANTE to both reward and engage our customers and then to serve our customers better.”
