Out of all the continents, Africa (and to some extent... Antartica) are the two places I haven't been yet. After a few days in Dubai where my best friend, who met me there, and I mostly saw aseptized malls, I was even more looking forward to visit the African continent, especially South Africa, Namibia and the Victoria Falls between Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Because I found for her a reasonably priced ticket on Emirates between France and Johannesburg which could include two stop overs in Dubai, She flew direct from Dubai to Johannesburg while I flew at approximatively the same time via Nairobi, on Kenya airways. As it was also my first time on this airline, the price being very reasonable (using my 150 Euros Amex travel voucher to decrease the price of a business class round trip ticket DXB-JNB to 500 Euros-ish) and Kenya airways being a Sky Team member such as Air France or KLM, I was also happy to test a new airline and their long-haul business class product on their Boeing 787-800 dreamliner as it was in operation that day on both flights between Dubai and Nairobi and between Nairobi and Johannesburg. Unfortunately, KQ decided to do a schedule change on the way back a couple months ago and instead of departing JNB at noon with a 2 hour connection in NBO to DXB, they decided to depart at 2 am (!!!) with a 7 hour layover in Nairobi. (I am actually writing those lanes on the way back from JNB live from the Pride lounge in Nairobi, pretty tired...). Anyway, this part of the story will be the subject of a separate post...
The way between Dubai and Johannesburg was as expected and we both landed approximatively at the same time in JNB to start our African journey...
Checking in Dubai was fast and my boarding passes were issued on the spot. Clearing immigration and security in Terminal 1 was a breeze and I was airside minutes after checking in.
Check-in
Security screening was not very crowded
Meet the crew !
Departure hall DXB T1
Kenya airways uses the SkyTeam lounge in Dubai. Unfortunately the lounge was very crowded when I arrived due to some other SkyTeam flights departing to Paris, Amsterdam, China and Saudi Arabia.The lounge, like the other skyteam lounges i was able to visit in the past in Sydney and London was ok. Nothing exceptional but with food and beverages from the different regions the alliance airlines are flying to.
Skyteam lounge DXB
Due to the crowd, I did not stay there very long and decided to visit the lounge across this one, the Ahlan lounge, which is accessible with Priority pass membership. This lounge looked much larger than the SkyTeam lounge and with good food and beverages offerings, but was way less crowded than the former. As my flight was boarding using one of the bus gates, I stayed there only 5 minutes but managed to snap a few pictures.
Ahlan lounge DXB T1 - Priority Pass lounge
The flight to Nairobi boarded using the bus gates (which I think is happening everyday and could be due to the fact that flight lands about 6 hours before).While there was a priority line to board the buses, everybody was packed in the same buses and it took in total 20 minutes or so to reach our aircraft, with buses packed to the brim. Certainly not the greatest business class experience ever… but we eventually reached the aircraft, a dreamliner registered as 5Y-KZC – Moment I was told by the ground staff that I was not allowed to take pictures of the aircraft… (for "security" reasons... - One reason fits all !)
I just hate boarding by bus...
Kenya Airways flight KQ311, October 29th 2018
DXB Dubai Intl – 01:45
NBO Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta Intl – 05:50
Boeing 787-800 – 5Y-KZC – Seat 1A, Business class, window.
I was informed earlier that day during the check-in that the seat next to me should remain empty for both segments, so while the business class on board Kenya Airways dreamliner is configured in a 2-2-2 configuration, which is not always the best when flying solo, my experience on that trip was better than it is supposed to be as I had the luxury to have 2 seats just for me.The cabin was in pretty good condition when I entered the aircraft and the business class loading was maybe about 50% that day. The business class cabin on Kenya airways is divided in two sections, with the second galley separating the two sections. The Front section has 3 rows of 6 seats, while the smaller section behind the second galley has 2 rows of 6 seats.
Each seat has one USB and one universal power plug, but not much stowage for computers or ipads for instance, those would have to be placed with the magazines in front of the seat. Note that for the first row seats, like the one I had, the inflight entertainment screen is located in the arm rest. A small privacy divider can also be operated between the two seats.A welcome drink was offered before departure and consisted in water or fruit juice (more like a fruit cocktail) and newspapers were proposed. The amenity kit was also given at that time. A pillow and a nice blanket are also available at the seat.
Amenity kit contents - Kenya airways
I slept most of the flight so cannot really comment more the service onboard, but I don’t think there was much service on this night flight as most of the passengers did like me. When I woke up mid-flight to use the lavatories, most of the crew was in the galley reading magazines or talking to each other.I slept quite well (almost 4 hours in total out of a 5 hour flight) and woke up about 30 minutes before landing, when a flight attendant asked me if I wanted something to drink and brought me a fruit plate at the same time.
We landed ontime and another bus brought us to the main terminal where I had to clear security one more time, although there was no queue at all, so this was an easy formality.
Security was fast to clear that morning...
Departure board
Need to catch my flight to Dubai now. Will finish that part later !