Boeing Dreamliner lands in Nairobi as Kenya Airways gear for fleet modernisation

By Ben Kinyanjui

The Boeing Dreamliner 787-800 makes its first landing in Nairobi with Kenya Airlines expected to acquire some within the next two years.Kenya Airways CEO Titus Naikuni

The state-of-the-art aircraft is currently on a world tour to countries whose airlines have signed a purchase agreement with Boeing, and will be arriving from Ethiopia for the two days stay before proceeding on the tour.

Kenya Airways is expected to take delivery of nine of the aircrafts by the end of 2013 with a possibility of leasing four others, following the signing of a purchase agreement with Boeing in April this year.

The airline has also signed an agreement with General Electric Capital Aviation Services, GECAS the commercial aircraft leasing and financing arm of General Electric, for the delivery of two Boeing 777-300 Extended Range (ER) aircrafts.

The two aircrafts are expected to be join Kenya Airways fleet in October 2013 and May 2014 respectively with the aircrafts scheduled to operate long haul routes including Amsterdam, Bangkok, Guangzhou and Dubai in order to maximise both passenger and cargo traffic.

“With the increased passenger and cargo capacity that the Boeing 777-300ER offers, we are pleased with this development as it will see Kenya Airways significantly increase tonnage and passenger capacity while enhancing our premium service offering to Europe and the Far East,” said Mr Titus Naikun, Kenya Airways Chief Executive Officer .

“This also speaks to Kenya Airways’ efforts of flying a more efficient and environmentally friendly fleet,” he further added. The Boeing 777-300ER provides increased passenger and cargo capability at lower seat-mile cost for long range markets.

Kenya Airways will configure its 777-300ER’s with approximately 400 seats which is an extra passenger capacity of about 78 passengers over the 777-200ER. In addition, the aircraft will offer higher volumetric cargo capacity of over 12 tonnes.

The Boeing 777 family is the world's most successful twin-engine, long-haul airplane. With a current operational fleet of four B777-200ER aircrafts, the addition of the B777-300ER’s will see the airlines 777 fleet grow to seven by the end 2014.