Kenya Airways, the national airline of Kenya, was formed on January 22, 1977, after the collapse of East African Airways, which left the country and the Eastern African region struggling at the time for air services.
The initial fleet, inherited from East African Airways, included a McDonnell Douglas DC9-52 and three Fokker F27 Friendship aircraft, before Boeing 707 had joined the fleet to restart long haul flights later that year. A Boeing 720 was subsequently acquired too to serve medium haul destinations such as Seychelles and Addis Ababa.
Athens, Frankfurt and London were among the key intercontinental routes, before flights to Karachi and Mumbai, then called Bombay, were added.
In 1985 Kenya Airways did acquire their first Airbus A310-300 aircraft and in late 1986 two additional aircraft were purchased from the manufacturer, followed by the third A310 in 1988 and a fourth soon afterwards.
The present fleet of 36 aircraft is made up of Boeing 787 Dreamliners, Boeing B737-700s and B737-800s and Embraer E190s.
Serving 54 destinations out of their hub in Nairobi at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Kenya Airways is East Africa’s dominant airline with multiple daily flights to Entebbe, Dar es Salaam, Kigali, Juba and Bujumbura, connecting inbound and outbound passengers through their new Terminal 1A.
There the comfort of two lounges, Pride and Simba, await premium passengers who have checked in at dedicated counters after entering the terminal through their own dedicated entrance and security check door.
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