Kenya Airways Direct Flight to US Set to Boost Trade

28th October 2018 will be a memorable day for Kenya’s aviation industry after marking its maiden flight direct to John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK) International Airport in the New York City in the United States from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi.

Commonly referred to as “The Zambezi River,” the Dreamliner 787-8 carried a passenger capacity of 234. Kenya has now joined South Africa, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Nigeria becoming the fifth country in sub-Saharan Africa to fly directly to US JFK airport.

JKIA was approved Category One status by the US Federal Aviation Administration, in February, upon evaluation, testing and auditing to launch direct flights from Nairobi to New York.

Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary, Monica Juma, while aboard the flight acknowledged the determinations and hard work put into making it a success. This new development has brought into attention discussions on how Kenya amongst other African countries will gain.

Direct flights will connect Africa as a continent to the West Indian Coast which includes the Americas, Russia, Oceania, and Antarctica. The flights will boost trade ties between the superpower country and Kenya hence the push by Kenya’s Government to minimize the current trade discrepancy in favor of the US. Last year, aggregate trade between Kenya and US totaled to 102.2 billion shilling.US exports to Kenya amounted to 57.2 billion shillings while Kenya’s exports to the US amounted to 45 billion shillings.

The newly unveiled Nairobi-New York direct flights are expected to boost the flow of products and services between the US and Kenya to about 25 percent yearly. The journey that used to take up 22 hours will now only take 14 hours.