SriLankan Airlines lands in Nairobi, Kenya, its 2nd destination in Africa
SriLankan Airlines is well aware of the potential of the African market.
With the opening of the Nairobi service, the Oneworld alliance company wants to capture the flow of traffic between Africa and markets in South Asia, China, the Far East and Australia. This Thursday, April 22, took place the inaugural flight of the Colombo - Nairobi route of SriLankan Airlines. From now on, the Sri Lankan national company offers 1 weekly flight(every Thursday) between the capitals of Sri Lanka and Kenya.
The route is served without competition, by Airbus A330-300 with 297 seats (269 in economy class and 28 seats in business class). “The demand for transport to and from Nairobi has increased dramatically given its status as a business and leisure hub for East and Central Africa. Nairobi is strategically located with land and air links to Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Malawi, Zambia and Madagascar”, explains SriLankan Airlines. “This new route will allow SriLankan Airlines to operate significant traffic flows from East Africa to South Asia, China, the Far East and Australia. We expect to see heavy loads in China and India, although the schedule allows connectivity to key destinations through the route network,”said Vipula Gunatilleka, Chairman and CEO of SriLankan Airlines. With the opening of this line, the carrier now serves two countries in Africa. Until then, he flew only to the Seychelles (1 flight per week, without competition).
