Tag Archives: Nairobi

Further expanding its footprint in the African market, Rotana has signed a hotel management agreement with Mullion Contractors to manage a new five-star hotel and hotel apartments in Nairobi. Set to open in 2022, the new property will be situated at Upper Hill, a popular business district in the city of Nairobi. With 200 hotel rooms and 100 hotel apartments, the upcoming hotels will be operated under the ‘Rotana Hotels & Resorts’ and ‘Arjaan Hotel Apartments by Rotana’ brands. The agreement for the new hotel comes a month after Rotana signed up for its first property in the Republic of Zambia. The planned five-star hotel is scheduled for opening in 2021 in the heart of the south-central African country’s capital city Lusaka. When opened, the new properties in Kenya and Zambia will join the company’s portfolio of operating hotels in the African continent that includes Al Salam Rotana, Khartoum, Sudan; Kin Plaza Arjaan by Rotana, Kinshasa, DR Congo; and Grand Rotana Resort & Spa, Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. The new hotel and hotel apartments will bring Rotana’s total inventory in Africa to 2,028. Nasser Al-Nowais, Chairman, Rotana, said, “Setting foot in Kenyan market with a five-star hotel and hotel apartments is closely aligned with our vision of strengthening Rotana’s presence in Africa and bolstering our global portfolio further. We will continue to seek new opportunities to offer Rotana’s branded accommodation on the continent that is increasingly becoming popular among tourists and corporate travellers from around the world.” Offering guests with all the comforts and the luxury for a pleasant and memorable long stay experience, both hotels in Nairobi will feature key hospitality offerings, including signature dining restaurants, executive lounge, ballroom, state-of-the-art …

Oman Air has implemented a code share agreement with Kenya Airways (KQ) covering services between Muscat and Nairobi. The new partnership will allow seamless connectivity to Kenya Airways customers in accessing Muscat directly from Nairobi. Oman Air launched its flights to Nairobi in March this year. On the Nairobi – Muscat route, KQ will place its code share flight numbers on the Oman Air flights operating on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Through this partnership, Kenya Airways extends its services to tourists as well as to those who are visiting friends and families, in Oman – through the cultural links that Oman shares with the coastal parts of East Africa – especially Kenya and Tanzania. Commenting on the new code share agreement, Paul Gregorowitsch, CEO, Oman Air, said, “Oman Air is very happy with the implementation of this code share agreement with Kenya Airways. Through this partnership, Oman Air extends its exemplary services to guests of Kenya Airways. Trade between Kenya and Oman has been growing steadily over the years and this latest agreement with Kenya Airways is a natural progression, following the launch of our new flight from Muscat to Nairobi in March this year.” Sebastian Mikosz, Managing Director and CEO, Kenya Airways Group, commented, “This new code share agreement represents an important element of our strategy to increase the choice, convenience and connectivity that Kenya Airways offers its customers. The code share partnerships and airline alliances continue to play an important role for Kenya Airways in improving the airlines competitive offering.”

Emirates, the largest international airline in the world, has announced that it will introduce a third daily flight between Dubai and Kenya’s capital Nairobi from June 1, 2017. The additional flight will increase the number of scheduled Emirates flights between the two cities to 21 a week and give customers greater flexibility and choice when planning their travel. It also underscores Emirates’ commitment to Kenya and confidence in the route, which has grown to become one of the airline’s busiest routes in Africa since it first launched services to the country in October 1995.As with its other two daily flights between Dubai and Nairobi, Emirates will also operate its popular Boeing 777-300ER in a three class configuration. The aircraft will have eight private suites in First Class, 42 lie-flat seats in Business Class and 304 spacious seats in Economy Class. Flight EK717 will become the first of the three daily departures from Dubai and leave at 0140hrs and arrive in Nairobi at 0540hrs, enabling customers arriving on Emirates’ flights from India, the UK and many European countries such as France, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Netherlands and Italy to connect to the Nairobi flight within three hours. The return flight EK718 is also conveniently timed and will depart Nairobi at 0710hrs and land in Dubai at 1315hrs, ahead of Emirates’ afternoon European flights and its fourth daily flight to New York, a popular destination for Kenyan travellers.

Turkish Airlines has added Zanzibar to its network in Africa taking the total number of destinations to 293 worldwide and 50 in Africa. These include the east African city hubs of Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro, Nairobi, Mogadishu, Djibouti, Asmara, Addis Ababa, Kigali, Entebbe and Zanzibar. The Zanzibar flights will be operated 3 times per week as Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays in both directions. Introductory round trip fares are available from Istanbul to Zanzibar starting at $636  (including taxes and fees). Additionally, for the operations to Zanzibar –till 12th June 2017-, Miles&Smiles members will be able to earn 25% extra status miles. Flight TK567 will also provide a direct link to Istanbul Atatürk Airport, from where passengers will be able to conveniently reach top global destinations including Frankfurt, Muscat, Munchen, Dubai, Paris, London, Milano, Amsterdam, Zurich, Bombay, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Rome, Brussels, Berlin, Vienna, Hamburg, Tel-Aviv, Düsseldorf, and Prague.

The national airline of the United Arab Emirates, Etihad Airways has signed a new code-share agreement with kulula, the award-winning low-cost carrier from South Africa. The code-share deal offers Etihad Airways customers flight options to a number of key cities in South Africa that include Cape Town, Durban, George and East London via Johannesburg. Etihad Airways will place its EY code on kulula’s scheduled flights between Johannesburg and these popular coastal cities. This agreement allows guests access to through-check-in and baggage transfer to their final destination. The new code-share services went on sale from October 3, 2016, with travel from the start of the Northern Winter schedule on 30 October. The agreement with kulula strengthens Etihad Airways’ commitment to Africa and brings the total number of destinations that it serves across the continent to 23 through its existing code-share partnerships with Kenya Airways, Royal Air Maroc, and strategic equity partner Air Seychelles. Etihad Airways currently operates scheduled services to 10 destinations in Africa, namely Johannesburg, Nairobi, Entebbe, Dar es Salaam, Khartoum, Casablanca, Rabat, Lagos, Cairo and Mahé in the Seychelles.

Etihad Airways will add three weekly flights between Abu Dhabi and Sydney to operate a double-daily schedule from February 6, 2017. The morning departure from Abu Dhabi – EY450 – and the afternoon departure from Sydney – EY451 – will increase from four to seven flights per week. This enhancement to the airline’s Sydney schedule comes with the move by strategic partner Virgin Australia to shift its Australia to Abu Dhabi operation from Sydney to Perth from June 9, 2017. Expanding the code-share agreement, Etihad Airways will add its EY code to Virgin Australia’s new three weekly Perth-Abu Dhabi flights. The combined impact of the additional Sydney capacity and new code-share with Virgin Australia is an increase in the UAE flag carrier’s Australian footprint from a total of 42 to 45 weekly flights. To maintain schedule continuity, Etihad Airways will operate its three new weekly Sydney services at the same timings as Virgin Australia’s current Sydney-Abu Dhabi flights, on which Etihad Airways has placed its EY code since they began in February 2011. Among the new two-way connected markets for Perth are Athens, Beirut, Geneva, Istanbul, and a number of African destinations including Dar es Salaam, Entebbe, Khartoum and Nairobi. The additional Sydney flights will be operated by a three-class Boeing 777-300ER, the aircraft type operating the current EY450/451 pattern. The aircraft is configured with eight seats in First Class, 40 in Business Class and 280 in Economy Class.