Kenya Airways links Vietnam with Africa with direct flights to Hanoi

Trucks spray water at a Boeing aircraft of Kenya Airways in Hanoi on 31 March Tuesday as part of the launching ceremony of its direct route from Nairobi to Hanoi. Photo credit: Dan Tri.

Kenya Airways has become the first African carrier to fly non-stop to Vietnam by opening a direct route between Kenya’s capital Nairobi and Hanoi on 31 March 2015.

A source from the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam said Kenya Airways will provide three weekly flights from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to Noi Bai International Airport with Boeing aircraft, local media reported.

The airline is charging promotion fares of US$699 a round tickets in economy class and $2,362 for business class.

The non-stop route is expected to cut the travel time to around nine hours, saving passengers more than four hours of transit in Thailand's capital Bangkok.

Mbuvi Ngunze, CEO of Kenya Airways, said at the launching ceremony in Hanoi that Vietnam has become a new destination in the region for African businesses.

He said there has been big attention to the new route, like from Angola which started to receive workers from Vietnam in early 2014.

Representatives of Kenya Airways expected that Hanoi as its 52nd destination will raise the revenue contribution from Asia to 10 percent. The carrier's profit is around $1.1 billion a year.

Kenya Airways is cooperating with Vietnam Airlines, a co-member of SkyTeam alliance, with plans to expand service to Ho Chi Minh City and other Asian countries including Japan, China, Malaysia and South Korea.

Source : Thanh Nien News, Hanoi. Edited by Gan Yung Chyan / KUCINTA SETIA.