KQ domestic travel demand driving growth

Kenya Airways’ domestic flights are outperforming the international routes as the demand for air travel locally records significant growth since the resumption in July.

According to Kenya Airways, domestic demand has risen to 79 percent of the cabin factor, compared with international flights that are currently at 55 percent with the numbers expected to remain low because of the second wave of Covid-19 in Europe.

Demand for travel has remained low because of the Covid-19 that has seen countries impose restrictions on arriving passengers.

“We have seen an improvement in our cabin factor. However, what we must remember is that we have only deployed about 26 percent of our capacity. We are encouraged by the improvement and we are optimistic that this will keep improving going forward,” said KQ chief executive officer Allan Kilavuka.

The demand for intercontinental flights are at 58 percent for the national carrier with the numbers expected to remain low following the suspension of the New York flights.

KQ connects passengers from regional countries to other continents such as America, Europe and Asia using its hub at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. KQ was to resume New York flights last Saturday but the plan was put off after the route witnessed huge cancellation.

Before cancellation, KQ had said the carrier had recorded a 40 percent cabin factor load in early bookings for the first trip to the US.