KENYA AIRWAYS Customer Reviews and Passenger Trip Reports

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KENYA AIRWAYS customer review :  7 February 2010 by N Tucker   (UK)

Their inflight entertainment system is lousy. I travel regularly and its always breaks down or is not fully operational - excuses like overheating and has to be switched off announcements by the pilot usually. It has its rewards though, usually 2000 air miles per complaint.

KENYA AIRWAYS customer review :  20 January 2010 by F Harle   (UK)

AMS-NBO-DAR Economy. Very busy flight from Amsterdam left an hour late, not helped by de-icing procedures at Amsterdam. Communication from flight deck (B777) was excellent and onboard crew really a pleasure. Served food last so chicken dish had finished, instead got fish masala - delicious! Good movie choice (overcomplicated system to get to grips with). As we approached Nairobi, a long list of connecting destinations were announced along with their gates. Sadly, this service was not maintained when we learnt that our flight to Dar had been delayed by 6 hours - no information, but offered cooked breakfast in restaurant but was chucked out by 10. Allowed into Business Lounge to send an email to warn of delayed arrival into Dar. Flight eventually departed in much smaller aircraft (Embraer rather than B737), leading me to believe that due to smaller number of passengers aircraft had been rearranged to inconvenience Dar passengers as they were fewer in number. Frequent flyers all said KQ delays were very common.

KENYA AIRWAYS customer review :  30 December 2009 by J Glover   (UK)

London to Lilongwe return. Our flights were on time, planes were clean and fairly comfortable, connecting in Nairobi is ok (although airport is hot, crowded and cramped) and staff were mostly friendly. Inflight entertainment works but is a bit limited. Food fine, crew generous with drinks and the beer is cold. Downsides were a late change of aircraft type from Lilongwe to Nairobi which meant seat reservations were confused, and one bag out of seven which didn't make the connection home via Amsterdam to London City (but it was found and delivered the next day). Overall a much better experience for instance than any major American airline.

KENYA AIRWAYS customer review :  28 December 2009 by Alan Brackley   (UK)

I can only concur with every word of Paul's comments. We were on the same flights and found that the "service" offered by Mombasa Airport, Kenya Airawys and Nairobi Airport was appalling. Had this happened in England or the USA, I'm sure lawyers would already be involved. The Kenya Airways manager on duty in Mombasa on the evening of the 22nd. was totally useless and should be removed from her post immediately! She spent most of the evening, night and the next morning in hiding! Her assistant proved equally inept. Children and elderly adults were left to sleep on the floor, the refreshments on offer could be described as inadequate as best and as for announcements about what was going on, forget it! The best advice the staff could offer was to the effect of go away and come back at eleven a.m. Where do you go outside Mombasa airport at 1 am? Nairobi Airport was little better - the entire place seemed to be full of frustrated passengers trying to find out what was going on - and nobody was being told anything. I could go on forever about the worst travel experience of our lives but suffice to say, we will never travel with Kenya Airways again and would recommend anyone who has the choice, no to do so. Finally, we have nothing but praise for our tour reps, the company itself, and the Foreign Office, who could not have been more helpful.

KENYA AIRWAYS customer review :  28 December 2009 by Samuel de Thierry   (UK)

London-Nairobi B777-200, Nairobi - Mombasa 767-300. While Kenya Airways offers very attractive prices as certain periods in the year [although these are contrasted by horrific prices during UK summer and christmas] it seems the airline is going very much downhill. Economy class on 777-200 is greeted by a very worn interior. On my last four flights more than 50% of the cabin's personal tv's didn't work, and they never got fixed. In fact, on my seat 33A on the 767 the entertainment console fixed into the armrest was hanging out, with wires dangling down! The service is pleasant, but very slow. Food quality is poor - even for plane food standards - and the portions are small. On an 8 hour flight London-Nairobi, you receive a very small main meal, and later on a roll - consisting of a slab of butter and piece of meat. My last three flights have had serious delays to them - namely domestic flights to Mombasa, whereas London services are fairly punctual. I prefer paying a little extra to fly with British Airways or South African Airways than resort to saving £50 and flying KQ.

KENYA AIRWAYS customer review :  25 December 2009 by Paul Muggleton   (UK)

Mombasa to London via Nairobi, scheduled departure from Mombasa 2000, 22/12/2009. Flight to Mombasa aborted due to supposed problem with landing lights at Nairobi. We were returned to the departure lounge at Mombasa. No information given out, but we discovered that the onward flight to London had been delayed to 0645 the next day. This gave enough time for a road transfer to Nairobi to allow us to catch our onward flight. The Kenya Airways manager at Mombasa ran away when asked to deal with our problems! Although complimentary drinks were provided, and we were told that the next flight to Nairobi would be at 11:00 on 23/12/09, no effort was made to provide overnight lodging. Fortunately our tour operator, Kuoni, stepped in and provided overnight accommodation. Less fortunate passengers including women with young children were forced to spend 14 hours in the departure lounge! Flight eventually left for Nairobi at about 1200 the next day. We were unsure whether the issue with the landing lights had been resolved, and Kenya Airways staff did not seem to know. We were rebooked on flight scheduled to depart Nairobi at 2345. On checking in, a Kenya airways staff member assured us that we would have access to a comfortable lounge. With nearly 12 hours in the departure lounge, Kenya Airways initially provided nothing at all. After about an hour of argument, meal vouchers were provided for Lunch and Dinner in the transit restaurant. The facilities at JKIA are appalling - there is a dire lack of seating and nowhere to relax with a decent meal and a drink. After a few hours we were totally exhausted and very angry. Yet again our tour operator stepped in and provided lounge access. Our flight for London eventually departed a little over and hour late at about 0100 on 24 December. At least we got home for Christmas. I accept that the problem with the landing lights at Nairobi was not Kenya Airways' fault. However, we had a contract for transport to London, and were checked in, so our welfare was the responsibility of Kenya Airways. They couldn't have cared less! I would never fly Kenya Airways again after this experience and would not wish to fly via JKIA with any airline until better passenger facilities are available.

KENYA AIRWAYS customer review :  22 December 2009 by Tim Powell   (Spain)

JNB-NBO. Having not flown this route previously, I duly selected a forward window seat with the hope of seeing something of Africa. Unfortunately the windows of the very old 737 were so scarred that it was impossible to see through them. Similarly the condition of the aircraft interior showed a lack of attention. Check in easy, on time departure and the food and drinks are adequate, although I found the service to be unfriendly. I noted that the previous Kenya Airways departure was a new 737 (800 series?) so suggest you pick your flights with caution.

KENYA AIRWAYS customer review :  20 December 2009 by Mahul Shah   (Kenya)

Nairobi to Heathrow in Business Class, cabin was 100% full. From Nairobi service was mediocre. The crew had blocked the forward toilet for their use and gave grumpy looks to a lady with crutches who went to use it. I was given a menu for the return flight. Seat is flat and comfortable. Pillows and blankets wafer thin, so cabin temperature is kept warm. IFE with around 15 channels on demand, but headphones not noise canceling. We were given fast track cards for LHR arrival. Priority tagging worked. Overall average flight. Return flight needed to ask 3-4 times to get a wine top up. Service average, the crew were not really enthusiastic. On arrival, they did not hold the economy class passengers back, so it was a scrum to get off. I would take Emirates or Virgin on this route next time.

KENYA AIRWAYS customer review :  19 December 2009 by Ian Bromley   (Thailand)

JNB-NBO and NBO-BKK. Check-in at Jnb very slow because pax were emptying & repacking baggage on the weigh platforms. Took off on time and arrived NBO on schedule, poor food and adequate service. Planned 4 hour overlay in NBO but at 10 pm announcement of a 'fault on the runway' & all flights suspended until further announcement. 3 hours later the screens flashed up Cancelled against the Bangkok flight but Delayed against all others. At the BKK boarding gate a staff member was telling pax that KQ would not provide hotels or even a drink as it was not their problem that caused the cancellation. After 5 hours still no indication of what was happening. Eventually a departure time of 13:15 appeared on the screens. Boarding was a scrum and after take-off the cabin filled with a violent smell that lasted over 30 minutes. Enquiries to cabin crew met with a response that the toilets were clean and working but the Captain had been informed. Nothing more heard about that. Landed at BKK at 2 am having missed my connecting flight by 12 hours. Was rebooked onto another flight leaving at 6:15 am, my bags were still in BKK 14 hours later when I traced them back to KQ. I advise you never to fly KQ unless you want to be treated like scum, left for 18 hours without even a glass of water in a stinking Nairobi airport and fly in battered aircraft that need better maintenance.

KENYA AIRWAYS customer review :  14 December 2009 by P Ball   (Thailand)

Had very difficult Bangkok-Nairobi flight. Delayed 4.5 hours in Bangkok by technical issue - an available crew with enough hours. Guess these things happen. Kenya Airways sells and operates itself as an African hub so the flight had a huge number of transit flights onwards to other destinations - 100+ passengers all looking for re routing and new connections hopelessly managed by Kenyan Airways. No senior managers on hand to help - although they held a clear veto/approval on seeking connections outside KQ flights. With this delayed flight there were many hours available to rework the transit bookings - indeed an action Kenyan Airways staff in Bangkok said was being proactively managed - a false hope.

KENYA AIRWAYS customer review :  8 December 2009 by Graham Robertson   (UK)

Bangkok to Hong Kong. Plane was tired but cabin staff friendly enough and food was standard airline fodder. The duty free trolly went past so fast it was just a blur, in spite of me telling one of the staff I wanted to make a purchase. Similar story on the return flight - until I read other reviews I would have had no problem as recommending them as a reasonable low cost airline - perhaps I was just lucky!

KENYA AIRWAYS customer review :  23 November 2009 by Graham Ellis   (UK)

Standards have fallen dramatically. I have flown with Kenya Airways for the last 20+ years and I will seriously consider using another airline from now on. Heathrow -Nairobi return in October and November. Sullen staff, dirty planes. Broken seats, no inflight entertainment not just on outward bound flight to Nairobi from Heathrow, but inbound flight on return journey. What's gone wrong ?

KENYA AIRWAYS customer review :  23 November 2009 by Sally MacFarlaine   (UK)

Worst airline we have ever flown with. The inflight entertainment unit wasn't working on the way out or on the way back. The return was a night flight, the light wasn't working, and when I requested a torch to read with, even that wasn't working. Staff training is inadequate. They came round with a jug but you had to ask if it was tea or coffee, they just stood there with it, and when they came round with the duty-free a guy just pushed the trolley without saying he had duty free, so we missed it completely.