A New Route Shaves 7 Hour off the Journey to Africa (But It May Not Last)

The travel time for getting between New York and Nairobi used to be 20 hours or more. To make the journey, people who wanted to get from the East Coast of the United States to East Africa had to endure layovers in spots like London and Amsterdam and even some Gulf cities.

That was until October 2018 when Kenya Airways launched a new route that shortens the flight time between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to just 14 hours by flying direct on its new Boeing Dreamliner.

The pros? A large cabin, mood lighting, some pretty decent entrées like hen and snapper on the menu. Passengers who snag business-class seats (for as low as $4000) to Nairobi will be able to take advantage of lie-flat seats during the journey.

The cons? The entertainment selection being offered by Kenya Airways leaves more than just a little something to be desired. Expect tons of older movies that weren’t exactly big hits when they were released.

The dealbreaker? Not that many customers are biting. Some in the airline industry are even questioning whether or not the new route will survive the winter. Kenya Airways has already been forced to cut back the number of flights it is offering on the newly launched route and 10 scheduled flights have already been cancelled for the period spanning Nov. 5 to Dec. 5.

Kenya Airways has been doing its best to downplay the cancellations and says that not only is it rescheduling a number of flights for next year, but that canceling low-selling routes during the winter months is a global practice throughout the airline industry that will help it to avoid losses as it moves into the notoriously slow winter months.

[Image: Wikipedia]