Transit time Nairobi Airport
 

Hi there

We've booked tickets with KLM: AMS-NBO-JRO. Unfortunately I just realized that our Transit at Nairobi airport is only one hour. We will arrive Dec 31st at 7am and departure with Precision Air ist at 8am. Are we (and our luggage) going to make it? Do we have to go through immigration?

Thanks
Tinka

Hi. You don't need to go through immigration. Bags should make it. Ask at the boarding gate if your bags have been loaded. NBO is a small airport.

A one hour transfer should be OK (I've successfully made one hour connections in NBO several times this year). As has been mentioned, NBO is relatively small and the FAs should announce the gate numbers for connecting flights while you're taxi-ing in on arrival.

Your biggest risk is probably a delay in KQ117 leaving AMS - as it'll be winter in Europe, weather-related delays are not uncommon. However, even if you're up to about 20 minutes late into NBO you should still make the connection; if it's tight, the KQ ground staff should meet you when you dis-embark to rush you to the next gate (if you're travelling in eco, try to get a seat near the front of the AMS-NBO flight, so you're off quickly). Even if you miss your scheduled flight to JRO, the good news is that there's another one at 10:45.

However, note that asking about your bags at the gate in NBO is not very reliable. In AMS, they have a live-updated system, so they can directly check whether or not your bags have actually been loaded onto the plane. However, in NBO the system doesn't have live updates, so although they can check whether your tag-numbers are associated with your reservation (and whether your bag was loaded in AMS), they can't actually check whether your bag has been loaded onto the JRO flight. If you ask the ground handlers out on the tarmac by the PW flight (you'll have to walk across the apron to board it), they might be able to tell you whether your bags are on board.

I have a 10 hour layover in Nairobi. How early should I be back at the airport before my flight and can I get a visa upon arrival/do I need one for such a short stay?

You can get a visa on arrival, but it depends on your nationality.

Few questions to be able to help you:

1. What time do you land?

2. What time are you due to take off and will you be checked through from your original destination to final destination?

3. Where are you staying?

Then we can help :)

RWA

Thanks!
 

Thank you so much for your answers!! Lets cross fingers that the european winter is not going to make us some trouble...

Advice on transfers
 

I will be returning from a Kilimanjaro trek on 10 January 2014. I need to book a transfer flight from Kili to Nairobi inorder to get the 2340 hours BA flight back to London. There are 2 choices - one flight arriving at Nairobi at 1610 hours and one at 2040 hours. Do you think I will have enough time if we get the one arriving at 2040 hours. It sounds from the posts that we should be ok. Is asking about the loading of the bags at the gate reliable? I'm paranoid about missing the flight back to the UK. Nairobi airport sounds a bit chaotic.

I assume both JRO-NBO flights you are referring to are operated by Precision Air (PW). Are you talking about a single ticket/itinerary (in which case 3 hours is well above the minimum connection time, and so even the 20:40 arrival is fine) or two separate ticket/itineraries?

If the latter, and you are travelling without checked baggage, or PW will check your bags all the way through to London (it seems PW have an interline agreement with BA, but this doesn't necessarily guarantee they will agree to through check on a separate itinerary), and your PW flight isn't massively delayed, then 3 hours is more than enough time to transfer at NBO. However, if you have bags that can't be through checked, you would have to clear Immigration in NBO, collect your bags (allow 1hr, although hopefully it's less than that), then go over to the departures area (Unit 1 for BA, IIRC) and re-check in there. I assume BA advise to check-in ~2hrs in advance, and actually close check-in ~1hr in advance, and so 3 hours should be sufficient. However, if the flight from JRO is significantly delayed, then it could get quite tight. Also, booking so many months in advance, you are at risk of any subsequent schedule changes by PW (which, on separate tickets, they would likely not be obliged to do anything about, even if the revised schedule was going to cause a misconnection to your BA flight).

If I was doing this, and could not afford to miss the BA flight, I would take the 16:10 arrival into NBO, and resign myself to a long wait... Others may feel the 20:40 arrival is fine.

I am not sure what system BA use. However, for some other airlines at NBO, the information system at the gate does not have live updates from the baggage system. So, they can tell you which baggage is associated with your PNR - but they cannot tell you if it is actually on the plane...

Not really, in my experience. But I guess I've flown through there a lot (and travel to far more chaotic locations as well) so perhaps I don't notice it... That said, it can be quite crowded, as I think it is now carrying far more passengers than its original design capacity.

And of course, welcome to FlyerTalk cazzafly!

Entebbe > Nairobi > Zanzibar Aug 1 2013
 

Hi all! It seems as if this has been answered many times over the years, but I want to confirm that things are still the same these days.

I have a Kenya Air flight from Entebbe (Uganda) to Nairobi, then a second leg to Zanzibar. The second flight is operated by Precision Air, but I understand they have a codeshare agreement with Kenya Air. I have a one hour and 45 minute layover in Nairobi. Will that be enough time between flights? And will Kenya Air will transfer my baggage?

Thanks!
Laura

Hi Laura, things have not charged, so KQ will transfer you bags to PW. 1hr 45m is plenty of time, as NBO is a small airport. Just make sure that you ask at the PW boarding gate about your luggage.

Can-nbo-lhr-cdg
 

I have a 18 hour layover in NBO, and I was wondering if KQ would allow me through-check my luggage - and if this might be a good idea at all (pilferage, lost bags, etc.)

Seek you advice! Thanks in advance.

Where will you be coming from, and where will you be going to?

As long as it is one ticket, should not be a problem, but issues I see could be misplaced luggage, and possible pilferage.

What will you be doing for the 18 hours?

Thanks for your response, I'm flying CAN-NBO-LHR in J. Award redemption, that's the only reasonable routing I could find. I am going to the city to have coffee with my friend, then possible visit the safari. Any other places I could check out? :)

Anywhere other than the airport. There is NO LOUNGE available for any airline right now, so regardless of class of travel or elite status you will have to jostle for seating space on the dirty floor with everyone else.

CAN NBO lands at 0610, so by the time you are out through immigration it will be 0700.

I would suggest go straight to Nairobi National Park via East Gate. That way you avoid traffic through town, and you can have a safari till 11.00 am.

Then head to the city and catch up with your friend.

In the afternoon you can head to Karen and check out the Giraffe Centre, Karen Blixen Museum, have dinner at Talisman or Tamambo Karen Blixen Coffee Gardens, and be back at JKIA by 10pm for your 11.50 pm flight to LHR.

As mentioned in another post, there are no lounges at JKIA, so no chance for a shower.