Editorials

EDITORIAL: Direct US flights timely

kq

A Kenya Airways plane. FILE PHOTO | MARTIN MUKANGU | NMG

It is now officially confirmed that direct flights by Kenya Airways to New York will officially take off in October. This is not only good news to the airline, but to the country as a whole.

Clinching such a lucrative deal was by no means an easy task for the airline. This achievement is made more prominent by the fact that the national carrier has over the recent past been struggling to come out of deep financial turmoil.

The commencement of the daily flights to the US now opens a vast window not only for complete revival, but also potentially immense growth for KQ. 

According to the Kenya Tourism Board, the US is currently the top source of tourists to Kenya, with about 100,000 American visitors landing in Nairobi yearly.

Trade between the two countries is also on the rise.  With travel time being cut by more than six hours, the prospects for business between Kenya and the US can only be brighter.  

READ: KQ books tickets for direct US flights starting October

All that the airline now needs is to put in place proper measures and strike the right partnerships to ensure that it cashes in on these new flights for all their worth.

It is also worth noting the flights did not come on a silver platter. The country and the airline went through a series of far-reaching and stringent assessments before it was awarded Category One status, which is a key requirement for direct flights to the US.

Two of the key considerations for this award were the quality of facilities at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and more fundamentally its level of security. It behooves those charged with running the airline to jealously guard these achievements.