averflavour

Hello FTers!

I'm looking at booking a trip between IST and NBO. Looking on line for flights that would be happening with relatively short notice (in the next week), it looks as if there are lots of available seats and load factors are generally low (I definitely think this could be due to the bizzare advanced seat selection setup).

My questions are as follows:

1. Are load factors usually low on these routes?

2. Has anyone attempted or had success trying to pay for a same day upgrade after buying an economy class ticket (I've seen a few threads about upgrades from BOM)?

3. How bad is NBO airport on the outbound?

Thank you for any assistance you can provide!

worldtraveller73

No direct experience but isn't the equipment a 737? This means no beds and most of the competition (EK, LX, BA) are likely offering beds on their equipment while using long haul aircraft. I would suspect that only Etihad and Turkish are using short haul barca-lounger seating for this route.

If I recall correctly, the TK flight times for NBO are not very attractive either.

I would suspect this means less demand.

There is no lounge at the moment at NBO (or there wasn't in November 2013) when I passed through. Otherwise, a perfectly functional 1980's style outdated airport!

HasteFlier

Hi,
I took the NBO-IST leg last month. I didnt try to ask for an upgrade, but the load factor was quite low, and we could secure three seats for two people without any issue (I think most middle seats were empty at the back of the plane).

As far as I saw and understood, the part of NBO that burned is the arrivals + lounge area. That means almost no changes to the rest of the airport, save that, due to capacity problems, only business class pax can get the lounge (i.e no status pax).
The departures area is quite decent if old, but there's not a lot to do while you wait, especially at the ungodly hour at which the TK flight leaves. I did get a few hours of sleep and a decent meal on the comfy sofas at the Java House coffee (at the far left after arriving in the departure zone)

averflavour

Thank you both very much for the information. I would have prefered to pick an airline that had lie flat seats in J however due to connection times and and required time into NBO Turkish seems to be the only option!

Cheers.

siberslava

I'm flying the route at the end of August (AYT-IST, awesome use of 20,000 miles and $300 taxes). Seems they run two flights a day, one with a 737 and one with a wide body airbus which would have a real J class

averflavour

I thought I'd follow up after my experience for anyone who'll be going in the future.

Check in at NBO for TK doesn't open until 3 hours before the flight. You'll be allowed into the terminal, but there is no where to go or nothing to do once you're inside.

Before you're allowed to go to the check-in counter, they make you go though a passport check which adds a bit of time to the check-in process.

Once airside, the Simba lounge (operated by Kenya airways) is open and available to business class passengers and Star Alliance Gold. There are several duty free shops that are open and a coffee shop at the end of the concourse.

Load factors on both my flights TK607 + TK608 were very high but that might have to do with the August travel dates which are high season for tourism in Kenya.

Business class on the way back to Istanbul was full so I was not able to find out about a paid upgrade at check-in. Also, if you are flying business class, it's the new layout with propper business class seats.

Cheers,
Averflavour

Portolan

While this would be great, I don't understand why they'd admit Star Alliance Gold (since Kenya Airways isn't in the Star Alliance) unless its just a contractual arrangement. I do see where they admit Gold Skyteam members. I'm *G and will be departing Nairobi on Brussels Air in February.

Is there a sign indicating *G admission? From your message I gather you were admitted because you were in C/J class?

Thanks.

averflavour

I wish I was in C/J Class. When I checked in with Turkish they gave me a lounge invitation that said business class however I was only in economy. I assumed this was because I was Star Gold.

Perhaps you will have the same luck on your flight.

AverFlavour