By Moses Adongo
Just a year after the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) was conferred with Category One status making it one of the elite international airports in this region, the Kenya Airways was this week given the authority to fly direct from Nairobi to New York.
The authorization letter was given to the airline by the Transport Safety Administration, a US agency responsible for public travel yesterday.
Delivering the Last Point of Departure (LPD) confirmation during an event at KQ center, US Ambassador to Kenya, Robert Godec, said that the US government would henceforth allow the airline to land at the JF Kennedy International Airport.
The ceremony was graced by top Kenya Airways officials as well as the Cabinet Secretary for Transport Macharia.
Kenya Airways had already revealed the deployment of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft to serve the route. With a capacity of about 250 seats in the business and economy classes, the aircraft will make a 14-hour flight to New York and a 15-hour trip back to Nairobi.
The direct flights to the US have already caused extreme excitement in the country with about 7,000 tickets already booked as by August 20. This was revealed by the airline management who say they are much committed to attracting as much tourism, trade and investment traffic in the country as possible.
The airline also revealed that it will make its maiden flight to the USA on October 28 and will leave the JKIA at 11.25pm. President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to be among travelers in the business class for the inaugural trip.
Already travel agencies have started laying down plans on how they will capitalize on the new development as tourism is expected to boost. Regional trade is also expected to increase as US investors will be able to connect to other African countries form the JKIA.
