Kenya Airways To Resume Fifth Freedom Flight To China
Kenya Airways is planning to resume its fifth freedom flight to China in October. The service from Nairobi to Guangzhou via Bangkok is expected to commence from the week beginning October 25.Guangzhou is China’s most in-demand city for African traffic
From October 25, the airline will be running its regular daily service operated by 234-seat Boeing 787-8s. Guangzhou is the most in-demand city in China for travelers to and from Africa and is known as the ‘African capital’ of the country.With nearly 171,000 seats in 2019, Kenya Airways was Africa’s third-largest airline serving Guangzhou after Ethiopian Airlines with 348,000 seats to and from Addis Ababa, and EgyptAir with 247,000 to and from Cairo. An estimated 138,545 passengers flew from Guangzhou and Bangkok with Kenya Airways last year, which is a seat load factor of 81%. Almost 49,000 travelers used the fifth freedom flights between the Chinese and Thai destinations.
What are fifth freedom flights?
The nine freedoms of the air are a set of internationally accepted commercial aviation rights. Fifth freedom flights allow an airline to carry passengers between two countries, neither of which are the country where the carrier is based. In the case of Kenya Airways service from Nairobi to Guangzhou, the leg between Bangkok and the Chinese city is a fifth freedom flight. Utilizing a short leg of a long-haul flight has its advantages. The service will usually be operated by a widebody aircraft, giving you the comforts and facilities you don’t get on a short-haul flight in a smaller plane. You can often find a good deal on tickets, and you can experience an airline from a country you don’t usually travel with.
