Kenya Airways

✅ Trip Verified | Nairobi to Mahe. Extremely poor customer service from Kenya Airways today. After delaying our flight KQ 250 by 4hr 15mins meaning everyone is missing their connection, they offer no compensation, no solution, refuse to call the Seychelles Airlines to ask them for help. I expect to receive a refund for the inconvenience.

Not Verified | My flight from Dubai to Mauritius to transit through Nairobi was so bad. They delayed us in DXB for 2 hours and when arriving at Nairobi the flight to Mauritius already left. I had to reconnect to Johannesburg waiting for 8 good hours without any help of any rebooking or a hotel to rest. Arrived in Johannesburg at 1 am the morning I have to wait for another 9 hours before the flight to Mauritius. The journey of 1 day takes almost 3 days. I wouldn't recommend. They have wasted my time.

✅ Trip Verified | Johannesburg to Paris return. Kenya Airways does the job but don't expect much more than flying from A to B. On the good side, flight hours are convenient from Johannesburg to Paris and route is short. Flights were all on time, with short connections. KQ is part of the AF-KLM Flying Blue programme and that's very convenient (I'm Silver and got 3x23 kilos). FAs were fine and as already experienced on KQ they tended to be very generous on alcohol. On the downside KQ offers very poor service. IFE is extremely poor, with a very limited choice of films, most being rather old films, and the selection did not change between late July and late August! Besides IFE did not always work fine (sound problem on one flight). Food was very limited and very bad, particularly on 8 hour flight to Paris: no real dinner but just a fat meat roll, breakfast very bad - but food better from CDG as on so many airlines. NBO airport is small and clean, it was not crowded but very dull and very limited service. Ground staff at OR Tambo wanted us to pay for our children's car seats (about $ 400!) because on the website it was written that car seats were free for "infants" and they said children (aged 4 and 9) are not "infants" - very absurd rule! Hopefully the agent at the ticketing office was shocked by the price and sorry for us and finally they dropped the surcharge (as always, be kind with ground staff and stay calm!). Yet we saw latter the same ground staff member telling very rudely to a passenger going to Malawi that he would have to pay for a not-so-big cabin bag he was carrying. KQ's service is clearly very poor and among African airlines SAA and Ethiopian, while far from being perfect, offer better service, particularly IFE, food and cabins.

✅ Trip Verified | Bangkok to Harare via Nairobi. My first leg flight from Bangkok to Nairobi was delayed by 5 hours on 30 August (from 01:40 to 6:10). On arrival in Nairobi I could still have caught my flight to Harare but was told it had been cancelled. They were trying to put another flight together. I was told to sit and wait. I waited from approximately 10:00 am to 13:00 pm. I was told that a mistake had been made as I had been rebooked to go to Lusaka. At approximately 15:00 I finally got a new boarding pass and was taken to a hotel. By the time all procedures were done I arrived at the hotel after 17:00 pm. We were told to return to the desk by 20:00 Hrs for the 11:59 flight. I eventually arrived in Harare at 02:00 am on Sunday instead of 15:40 Pm on Saturday. On my return a week later, the Harare/Nairobi leg was fine. On arrival in Nairobi I was told to go to transfer desk and knew instantly that another ordeal was starting. The flight had been delayed by approximately 6 hours again. "The flight is leaving tomorrow morning and we have booked you in a hotel," they told me. I had to take a crowded old bus with loud music playing. We arrived at the hotel late and had just over two hours before our departure for the airport. Throughout all this, I never got an apology or any kind words. I resolved that I would never take Kenya Airways as long as they cancel and delay flights this way.

✅ Trip Verified | Johannesburg to London Heathrow via Nairobi. I can’t fault this airline. Faultless journey, great crew, new aircraft, flights on time. My second trip to Europe with Kenya Airways in the last couple of months, they are now my airline of choice. Thank you Star Alliance for doing me over with your hard to find small print, otherwise I’d have never tried KQ.

Not Verified | Cape Town to Addis Ababa via Nairobi. I booked two weeks ago to attend a hospitality conference Addis Ababa. Flying there by night booked business class and economy for my return as it is a day flight. The transit time is good on both legs. Until yesterday when I was informed that timetables have changed and I now have 5 hrs to wait at JKA for the return flight to Cape Town. As a frequent flyer KQ, I asked their customer service if I could be given a voucher for the business lounge as they had made the changes. The short retort was 'No'. My retort to Kenyan Airways - I have now cancelled my booking and will be flying Ethiopian Airways direct from Cape Town to Addis Ababa return. No wonder Kenya Airways is also experiencing hard times, it all relates to service, on the ground and in the air. You have now lost $930 plus what I may have spent at the airport duty free, and my views of flying 'The pride of Africa' has changed.

Not Verified | New York to Nairobi. I flew JFK to Nairobi non-stop on 10 August 2019 and returned on 1 September. The website is horrible. Much like the online entertainment system. The worst is their customer service. The flight attendants are rude, cold and reluctant to even give out cups of water. Flight is non-stop and 14-15 hours. Service is unbelievably terrible. Every flight attendant was rude. The bathrooms were dirty and were not cleaned or restocked duringthe entire flight. Unsanitary and disgusting. This airline is subpar and should be reviewed by health departments. The staff should be replaced or retrained. There are plenty of Kenyan citizens who could use the work. This is especially sad because Kenyan people are so nice and go out of their way to help each other and others.

✅ Trip Verified | Dubai to Kigali via Nairobi. On time. KQ cannot handle transit luggage in Dubai anymore. This happens frequently to me as I often travel on a different ticket onwards from DXB when transiting. One has to hire a ground handling company DNATA (?) and pay them 90 USD to retag two suitcases forward. Instead, I opted to pass twice not only immigration but also security and train commuting. Had to reclaim my bags and check them in again at landside. Otherwise, everything went perfect. I sleep well on the Boeing 787, prefer the middle seats on 2nd row. FAs pleasurable and I allowed them to change my seat. I bought the tickets a year in advance and could at that time not connect easily to Kigali from Nairobi. Earlier flights are now available, but I opted not to change and killed my 12 hours in Pride Lounge in Nairobi with pleasure and in great comfort. Last flight on Embraer, also faultless. But inflight service poor and food is a joke: a single, cold, unappetizing sandwich. I wonder what they can serve cheaper for economy class. Beers and wine available but hidden not displayed on wagons. Business class was full and people were cramped in 1 x 2 configuration. Headsets were for economy class and only given on request. Luggage delivered at belt as some of the very last ones, more than 35 Minutes after passing immigration. No point of Priority Tags. Delay caused by examination of all bags prior to releasing them! I could hear the sniffing dogs they use to disclose drugs. An airport thing, but passengers are suffering from this which also apply for departures. I still rate KQ fairly high due to good lounges, good first flight, nice FAs, and ability to handle irregularities.

✅ Trip Verified | Nairobi to Johannesburg return. Both flights delayed. A 3-hour delay out of Nairobi with no prior communication from the airline despite the fact that they ask for both your phone number and email address when you check in online. I actually received a text advising me of the delay after we landed in Johannesburg a full 3 hours late. Apparently the delay was caused by a technical issue with the airplane scheduled to operate the flight but the chaos at Nairobi Airport and a glance at the departure board showed most Kenya Airways flights delayed on the day for anything up to 8 hours! I'm skeptical that a technical issue on one airplane could cause that many delays, given the size of the airline and the different aircraft types it operates. The flight itself was fine, despite several irate passengers taking their frustration out verbally on the cabin crew who kept up a cheerful demeanor as much as they could. Food on KQ is nothing special, a tiny main course and a bread roll and bit of cake. Entertainment options are fine but don't seem to be updated much. Return flight from Johannesburg two days later also delayed 1 hour due to the flight departing Nairobi late. This time apparently they had a medical emergency with a passenger just after pushing back from the gate in Nairobi which meant they had to go back and put the unfortunate person in an ambulance. Not the airline's fault I suppose but frustrating nonetheless when constant delays are the norm with the airline these days. Being a frequent traveler to Johannesburg, I think I'll use their competitor on the route in future.

Not Verified | Amsterdam to Dar es Salaam via Nairobi. During the outward journey, I had a three-hour delay from Nairobi to Dar es Salaam. The airport in Nairobi has very poor facilities so the wait was very unpleasant. During the flight to Dar Es Salaam, I left my headphones on the chair. A day later I contacted immediately but apparently, my headphones disappeared in a 'mysterious' way. I contacted the company several times but after their first reaction, they found it too difficult to answer my follow-up questions. The return journey was even more dramatic. My flight was moved from the morning to the evening without consultation. I had received an email about this. So I wanted to check-in in the evening, but this was not possible. The change was passed on to me but apparently was not in the airport system. So I had to wait an hour and a half at customer service. The lady who thought her phone was more important than her customers couldn't help me. According to her, the fault lay with me. Because I had booked the flight via KLM, I went to the KLM office just in time. The staff there were able to check me in within five minutes and clearly stated that the fault was with Kenya Airways. Fortunately, I was just able to make my flight. How lucky that I booked the flight via KLM. The organization of Kenya Airways is lacking at every level.