Kenya Airways Withdraws Flights to Gabon and Benin

The National carrier, Kenya Airways has withdrawn its flights from two West African countries, Gabon and Benin effective October 14, 2019 citing unprofitability for the two routes resulting from changing market demand. Travelers who have booked the airline to the two destinations, beyond this date, will be rerouted or re-booked through KQ partner airlines.

“We have made the necessary arrangements to continue serving our customers who had made forward bookings through our existing cooperation with partner airlines to ensure no disruption to their travel,” said Kenya Airways Chief Commercial Officer, Ursula.

Speculations had it that the suspension of flights to Gabon and Benin is linked to its probe with the pilots on delays, something the carrier has denied. The company argues that the decision to suspend the flights to the cities of Libreville and Cotonou is in line with the current airline’s strategy to align its network worldwide.

The carrier which its first-half revenue rose 12.2 per cent from a year earlier to 58.55 billion shillings, has attributed to the launch of new routes and more frequent flights.

The national carrier has labored under a huge debt has had three changes of chief executive in the past five years as it struggles to compete with regional rivals. The government is making plans to buy out minority shareholders including Air France-KLM’s 7.8 per cent stake.

Sebastian Mikosz, KQ CEO,  says that there is no need to ‘sweat out assets’ with a view of reaping from the efficiency created from a larger network and frequency.

The carrier’s recent flight trend has however been on the positive with KQ having stuck to network expansion in the last year to include new entries in Mogadishu, New York and Geneva.