Boeing delivers Kenya Airways' first 777-300ER

By BA Staff

Boeing has delivered flag carrier Kenya Airways' first 777-300ER (Extended Range). The aircraft is leased to the carrier by GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS).

Kenya Airways' Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Titus Naikuni said:

"The delivery of this Boeing 777-300ER aircraft marks a key milestone for us at Kenya Airways. Its long-haul capability is a perfect fit for our network expansion plans as it will enable us serve our existing long range markets much more effectively and facilitate the opening of routes in the near future. This is an important step as we continue opening up Africa to the rest of the world."

Kenya Airways' 777-300ER is configured with 400 seats, 28 in the Premier World business class and 372 in eEconomy, and features USB ports, power sockets and an all-new in-flight entertainment system throughout the cabin. The airplane can fly up to 7,825 nautical miles (14,490 kilometers) and is equipped with GE90-115B engines, the world's most powerful commercial jet engine.

Kenya Airways is set to take delivery of a further two 777-300ERs, including an additional lease, as part of the carrier's 10-year strategic plan dubbed 'Project Mawingu.' The Nairobi-based carrier plans to increase its fleet size from 44 airplanes to 107 by 2021 and destinations from the current 62 to 115. Currently the airline's long-haul fleet consists of four Boeing 777-200ERs and six Boeing 767-300ERs.

With this delivery, Kenya Airways is also working with Boeing to support the Alaskan Sudan Medical Project (ASMP) by carrying 10,400 lbs (4,717 kilograms) of humanitarian supplies on the 777-300ER's delivery flight to Kenya. ASMP will use the supplies to build medical clinics, drill water wells and construct bio-sand filters for clean water in the Jonglei region of South Sudan. The humanitarian cargo will also include water pumps and agriculture equipment to support local farmers, fulfilling the ASMP's mission statement of saving lives through health, clean water and agriculture.

Kenya Airways operates a fleet of more than 25 Boeing airplanes including, 777s, 767s and 737s. The carrier serves more than 60 destinations across Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe and has nine 787 Dreamliners currently on order from Boeing.

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Kenya Airways to receive its first Boeing 777-300ER in October

by BA Staff

Kenya Airways is set to receive a Boeing 777-300ER this October to commence revenue service in November. The aircraft, which seats 400 passenger in a 2 class configuration (28J / 372Y), will be the largest aircraft in the airline's fleet to date.

Dr. Titus Naikuni, Kenya Airways Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, had this to say about the aircraft: 

This will be the largest aircraft in our fleet. Our current B777-200ER aircraft has a seating capacity of 322 passengers while this one has 400 seats. It  will give our business a major lift due to its enhanced product quality, excellent range and impressive cargo capacity ( more than 7,000 cubic feet of cargo volume; over 20 metric tons). The Boeing 777-300ER aircraft is a perfect fit for our network expansion plans as it will enable us serve our existing markets much more effectively and facilitate the opening of new long-haul routes in the near future.

Image Credit: Kenya Airways

The Premier World seats include full flat-bed seats with leather foot-rests, laptop stowage, and armrests. They also have a high quality entertainment system to go with 15.4 inch screens, a power socket, and a USB port. The Economy class seats contain articulating seat bottoms for better legroom, four-way adjustable headrests, and 10.6 inch monitors to go with a USB port, power sockets, and an in-flight handset.

This acquisition is part of Kenya Airways 10-year strategic plan dubbed ‘Project Mawingu’ in which the airline targets to increase its fleet size from the current 44 to 107 aircrafts by 2021 and destinations from the current 62  to 115. The new Boeing 777-300ER will commence direct flights from Nairobi to Guangzhou from November this year.

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Photos: New Delhi airport - aerial views of the ramp, Jet's A330 fleet, Blue Dart and Kenya Airways freighters

by Devesh Agarwal

Once again the kind friends at Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd. (DIAL), the company which operates the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), supported the Aviation Photographers India Foundation by giving access to the airside, after they had received permission from the DGCA.

Yours truly, got on to a Rosenbauer turn-table ladder (TTL) of the airport fire-fighting team, and took some aerial shots of the airport in the dawn's early light.

Readers compliment us on the quality of photographs. It is possible due to supporters like DIAL, their management, their air-side chief Ashutosh Kulshreshtha, their fire chief Mr. Kadam, and all their respective team members. Some dare-devilry on my part after being up for 36 hours straight shooting through the night, was the spice added to this mix.

Enjoy the three aerial views and then continue scrolling down to see a photo of me in the TTL bucket way up in the sky, thanks to Praveen Sundaram.

This photo is of the old Terminal 2, which is now used exclusively for Haj flights. The ramp is being used as a large parking lot for the Jet Airways Airbus A330 fleet, and some aircraft from the Kingfisher fleet. Five A330-200s and one new A330-300 are parked. The seventh A330 is parked on the remote ramp, visible in the second picture. Six A330-200s are almost half the Jet Airways fleet. One has to question why are they parked up in Delhi and not being used. There are rumours that Jet is going to lease them to Etihad. More Jetihad.



The remote ramp of the mega Terminal 3. This photo has two rare events in one. First is the Kenya Airways Cargo Boeing 737-300, not seen before this date. Second, is a rare daylight confluence of four Blue Dart freighters of their fleet of six aircraft. Two 757s parked, one 757 taxiing out, and the sole 737-200 near the top right of the photo, waiting to line-up and take-off.



Normally performed by an Airbus A340-300, this day Finnair flight AY021 non-stop from Helsinki, was performed by a Boeing 757-200 with winglets. Unfortunately this aircraft OH-LBT went technical and could not perform the return flight.



And here I am ....... way up there. Let me say, despite the supports on the trucks, the bucket wobbles and sways. It was scary and one has to be very gentle in their movements. Hats off to these fire-fighters.

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Etihad Airways signs code share agreement with Kenya Airways; strengthened ties with SkyTeam?

by Vinay Bhaskara

Abu Dhabi based Etihad Airways has inked a code share with Nairobi based Kenya Airways, expanding access to second and third tier African destinations for its consumers. Etihad Airways will place its code on flights by Kenya Airways to 27 destinations across Kenya Airways' African network. Meanwhile, Kenya Airways will place its code onto 32 onward destinations from Etihad's global hub. The Kenya Airways code will also be placed onto Etihad's daily Abu Dhabi-Nairobi service with 136 seat (16J/120Y) Airbus A320 aircraft, while Kenya Airways will launch a thrice-weekly service Nairobi-Abu Dhabi from mid 2013 onwards.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “The partnership agreement with Kenya Airways is in line with our strategy of forming alliances with airlines around the world to enhance our network and marketing reach. This agreement will also allow both airlines to benefit from cost savings achieved through synergies and economies of scale.

Dr. Titus Naikuni, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Kenya Airways, said: “The new codeshare partnership with Etihad Airways is a significant strengthening of the global network of both airlines, which provides more choice to all our passengers. As part of the agreement we are looking for greater collaboration and coordination on cargo operations, training and procurement opportunities which will make us more cost efficient and customer responsive.”

Code share agreements in and of themselves aren't huge news, but this agreement is notable because it marks increased ties for Etihad with the SkyTeam alliance. After fellow Gulf rival Qatar Airways broke tradition and joined the oneworld alliance, it has become increasingly speculated that Etihad will follow suit and join SkyTeam (Star Alliance is seen as too crowded for another middle-eastern carrier with Turkish Airlines already in the fold).

Etihad now has code share partnerships with nine SkyTeam carriers, including its founder member, Air France. While Etihad touts the benefits of its so-called "equity alliances" composed of its investments and reciprocal codeshares in European LCC airberlin, African regional carrier Air Seychelles, Australian carrier Virgin Australia, and Irish national carrier Aer Lingus, it would undoubtedly benefit from the increased feed provided by membership in a global alliance. While this particular agreement does not mean that a deal is imminent, it does add incrementally to the likelihood of Etihad joining SkyTeam.

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Night photos from Delhi Indira Gandhi international airport - the Boeing collection

Thanks to the support of the kind friends at Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd. (DIAL) who operate the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), and the DGCA, some members of the Aviation Photographers India, went airside for some photography. Click here to see photographs from the entire group.

Below are some night photographs from the event taken by the Bangalore Aviation team of Devesh and Vedant. Photographing airliners at night is very challenging, very tiring, but at the end of it, most exhilarating. It is when the big boys from across the world come, the airport is relatively quiet so we can get up close to the planes, and the creativity we can exercise with the light. For example the star bursts are not generated using any filters. They are created by stopping down the aperture and increasing the time the shutter is open.

We hope you enjoy. Do take the time to leave a comment, either here, or on the photograph page itself. Considering we are hobbyists, praise always helps.

Today is the Boeing collection from the 757 to the new 747-8i. Click on the images to see the original photos in high resolution. We are excluding the 777s which will be posted in a separate collection tomorrow.

Lufthansa Boeing 747-8i D-ABYA

China Southern Airlines Boeing 757-200 B-2823

China Southern Airlines Boeing 757-200 B-2812 (another night, another plane). Compare the star bursts between the two photos. This one is created used a prime 50mm f/1.8 Nikon lens, and at around Rs. 8,000 it is a steal, compared to the 24~70mm f/2.8, used for the shot above, which costs six figures.

Kenya Airways Boeing 767-300ER 5Y-KYX

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