Kenya Airways KQ310, November 13th 2018
NBO Nairobi – 14:10
DXB Dubai – 20:55
Boeing 787-800 – 5Y-KZH – Seat 01J, Business class, window.
The cabin configuration was exactly the same as on the flights from Dubai to South Africa 3 weeks before, except that this time, I selected a seat on the right side of the cabin. The business class was about 40% full, and I could enjoy a pair of seats just for me.
Although I did not face any technical issues with my seat, some passengers had issues with the power supply and IFE, considering the light load on that day, swapping seats was the solution offered by the crew.
We took off around 1445 with some great outside views…
Ready to take off !
Hot towels and paper menus were offered, together with the daily newspapers and the noise cancelling headphones (this was done before take off IIRC).
A drink with some macadamia nuts was also offered after take off
Kenya Airways business class menu NBO-DXB
Unlike the flights I took with KQ 3 weeks earlier, I did not find the starters or main course to be very good, I opted for the vegetarian curry and it was mediocre. The dessert, a chocolate meringue mousse was a good surprise though…
The white wine I wanted, a Viogner was unavailable on board.
Vegetarian curry
The crew offered a service I cannot remember much about, they just did the job and not much more. Note that the dessert service was done using a cart, which I always find nice.
Dessert service using the cart
The business class cabin
I managed to get an extra hour of sleep, thanks to the lie-flat seat and some hot beverages during the flight.
Relax position of the seat
Lie flat mode
We landed at 2030 in Dubai and disembarked by bus, with no distinction of travel classes. Everybody got packed like sheep inside a couple buses from Dnata…
Route NBO-DXB
In DXB tarmac
There were no lines at that time of the day at the immigration but I was directed to the main immigration office for secondary inspection after the first immigration agent found an « issue » with my passport (which was not the case 3 weeks before). I initially thought it was because he figured out I had two passports but it appeared that it was due to the fact I had 2 Qatar stamps (for stays of 6 hours and 24 hours in the country, during a transit). The second officer cleared this « issue » in a heartbeat, but like most people, I never really feel comfortable when I get secondary screening !
The luggage took a good 40 minutes to arrive on the belt as a previous flight from China landed at the same time as us.
Waiting for the luggage...
I eventually checked in at my hotel afterwards and came back at the airport 3 hours later to pick up my friend who was coming with the direct EK flight from JNB… Immigration in Terminal 3 was significantly more crowded than in Terminal 1 !
Considering the price paid (about 700 Euros RT if I remember correctly), and the number of miles and XP points those KQ flights gave me, I would repeat most of this itinerary if the occasion comes, but I would certainly avoid taking this read-eye flight between JNB and NBO, especially if not operated with an aircraft equipped with flat seats in business class.