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KQ marketing boss Chris Diaz resigns, airline begins direct Zimbabwe flights in May

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A Kenya Airways plane at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi. PHOTO | FILE

National carrier Kenya Airways' marketing director Chris Diaz has resigned after holding the post for four years.

An internal memo by the airline Friday indicated Mr Diaz will leave the carrier from mid-March.

“As a result of Chris’ upcoming move, I decided to reorganise Marketing in two parts; Corporate Communication, CSR, Events and sponsorship will be combined with Government and Industry Affairs (Currently in Commercial) and will be led by a Head of External Affairs, Regulatory and Communication, reporting to me,” said Kenya Airways’ chief executive officer Mbuvi Ngunze.

Corporate brand, advertising and field marketing as well as CRM and customer relations heads will now report to Vincent Coste, the commercial director, as per the memo.

This comes as the carrier announced that it would begin flying directly to Zimbabwe in May, adding to its African route map.

The flights between Nairobi and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe will be bring the total number of routes by the airline to 52.

The new route between Nairobi and Victoria Falls will operate three times a week on Monday, Thursday and Saturday.

“This new route highlights our strategy to continue "Winning in Africa" which is driven by opening up the region and ensuring our value proposition meets the demands for our customers,” said Kenya Airways’ Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Mbuvi Ngunze.

“We have seen increased demand for Cape Town, and had to increase our frequency in December. The route via Victoria Falls offers our guests two leisure holiday options.”

The Victoria Falls operation will be linked to Cape Town, South Africa.

This will see the airline increase its operations to Cape Town from the current four, which are served via Livingstone, Zambia, to six.

The route will be operated by Embraer E190 with a configuration of 12 business class seats and 84 economy class seats.