A Virgin Atlantic flight. Virgin Atlantic has announced it will withdraw its flight operations between Nairobi and London in September. Photo/REUTERS
Virgin Atlantic has announced it will withdraw its flight operations between Nairobi and London in September.
In a statement on Wednesday, the airline said increasing costs and a challenging economic environment during the past five years in both Kenya and Europe had led to the decision.
It said its last flight will operate from Nairobi on September 24 and from London Heathrow on September 23.
“We have taken the difficult decision to withdraw our services between Nairobi and London,” Julie Southern, Chief Commercial Officer for Virgin Atlantic said.
“Despite the best efforts of our employees, external factors including the high price of fuel, increasing aviation taxes in the UK and insufficient passenger numbers throughout the past five years have contributed to the decision.”
Since it launched flights to Kenya in 2007, the airline noted that British Air Passenger Duty (APD) has risen by over 100 per cent and fuel costs have increased by more than 50 per cent.
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