Kenya Airways receives second owned fully owned Embraer

By Fred Maingi
National carrier Kenya Airways has deepened its relationship with the
SkyTeam Alliance with the arrival of its second fully owned Embraer
E-190 in Skyteam livery.
The aircraft registered as 5Y- FFB, becomes the first Embraer that
will be emblazoned with the SkyTeam Livery on its tail and fuselage in
addition to the Kenya Airways logo. This makes it the second KQ
operated aircraft with the Sky Team livery alongside the B737-700
aircraft already in the Sky Team livery.
 The SkyTeam Livery on the Kenya Airways’ aircraft is a symbol of the
airline’s commitment not only to the alliance but also to delivering
high quality service to its customers. The livery design is inspired
by the alliances logo and features a dark blue SkyTeam logo on the
tail fin, the blue SkyTeam ribbon wrapped around the back portion of
the white fuselage, the SkyTeam name in large, dark blue letters along
the front side of the aircraft fuselage Kenya Airways placed below it.
 KQ’s Chief Executive officer and Managing Director Dr. Titus Naikuni
said the new plane as well as the others expected over the next year
will play an important role in the fulfillment of the SkyTeam Alliance
strategy for Africa.
“Kenya Airways is the only airline in Africa that is in the SkyTeam
Alliance, and with our flight and network expansion strategy, we are
well poised to take advantage of this unique positioning to take
traffic from markets such as China into the rest of Africa and
Europe”, he said.
 He said that the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is in a good
geographical position, and Kenya Airways through its 10-year Growth
Plan is taking advantage of this position to take advantage of the
surge in East to West traffic, driven by new investments and increased
disposal income in Asian countries.
 Kenya Airways currently flies to 58 destinations; 46 of them being to
African destinations. However, through the SkyTeam Alliance, Kenya
Airways takes passengers to over 926 destinations in 173 countries and
490 lounges globally. SkyTeam partner airline passengers can access
the former’s expansive destination network in Africa through Kenya
Airways.
 “We take pride in being part of Skyteam. It positions us well to take
advantage of increased demand for intra-Africa travel among business
and leisure travellers alike. Being part of the SkyTeam Alliance not
only offers our passengers high quality services but also seamless
connections to countries where we do not travel to”, said Dr. Naikuni.
 The new plane touched down at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport
Saturday evening 15th September 2012 from Brazil where it is
manufactured.
Commenting on the choice of Embraer E-190 over other aircrafts, Dr
Naikuni said, the aircrafts they are taking possession of are
versatile and cost efficient for short to medium haul flights.
“They are fully loaded with the most current technology in the
aviation sector, enhancing its suitability for growth plan”, he added.
Currently, KQ uses Embraer aircraft on domestic and short regional
routes including Kisumu, Entebbe, Kigali, Bujumbura, Addis Ababa,
Djibouti, Maputo, Gaborone, Kilimanjaro and Nampula.
 The new plane came just a fortnight after KQ took delivery of its
first fully owned Embraer. With the new acquisition, Kenya Airways now
boasts of a fleet of 12 Embraer aircrafts, with 8 more expected by the
end of the financial year.
 The airline has also ordered three Boeing 777-300ER aircraft expected
from October 2013 and nine Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft to be
delivered from 2014 partly financed using proceeds from the Rights
Issue successfully concluded in June.