Kenya Airways

Nairobi-LHR. I recently was unfortunate to have flown Kenya Airways. Flying Nairobi to Heathrow on the 23.45 flight we were told after we had all proceeded through the gate that it had been cancelled. This was at midnight. 2 staff were available to book over 200 people onto new flights. They were slow rude and lied about when they were able to do. They were very slow to provide any refreshments and were not able to accommodate everyone in hotels until the flights the following day - so we had to sleep on the floor. When I finally got a flight home the food was substandard the staff were rude and surly. Toilets were not cleaned or maintained. I will never be flying this airline again.

LHR to Nairobi. Punctual departure and arrival. Clean spacious 777 good leg room. Inflight entertainment not working. Food: lamb stew with very overcooked veg -- second rate school dinners. Completely unsmiling cabin crew who knocked my arm (I was in an aisle seat) every time they passed. Loos not tidied or cleaned during flight (8.5 hours).

Antananarivo to Nairobi flight. Arrived at Ivato airport to be told flight cancelled. Check in staff had no idea why or when they would be able to get me to Nairobi. "On the next flight" they said. "When will that be?" I asked. "I don't know. In the next few days" was the reply. I was sent to the Carlton Hotel to wait to be recalled. At hotel discovered that a room had been booked for me for four nights! However message received at hotel to be ready for transport to airport the next day at 8.00am. Arrived at Ivato 8.30am check-in didn't open till 10.15am. Once checked in to Nairobi I was casually told that my London connection was booked for two days later. After some minutes of discussion they transferred me to that evening's London connection (which involves nine hours in Nairobi airport!).

I write this sitting in an airport lounge having just disembarked from the only trip that I have ever taken using Kenya Airways - it is awful! The outbound flight there was no individual entertainment system just a single main screen movie that was impossible to watch. The seats were uncomfortable. Food awful and not enough. The return flight used a newer aircraft but that only meant that the seats were even closer together making it a long and painful trip. Even though the newer aircraft had individual entertainment system it was lacking features and mine did not work. They could not even turn it off so that I could sleep so I had this white screen glaring at me all through the night. The crew are poor - 10 minutes before landing I asked what terminal we would arrive at and they did not know. If you have a choice to use another airline then please do.

Good points are that we left on time and boarding was well organised. Service onboard was awful. On both flights the entertainment system was not working and despite asking over and over again no one had the courtesy to come back to me. On the outward flight the service was a disgrace - no drink for an hour then it came with the meal. I had asked twice for a drink and was told "2 minutes". The plane was tired - carpets rucked up and loose seats dirty and stained.

Flights delayed. No customer service and poor communication. Sullen and unhelpful staff. Passengers were treated more like cattle and staff acted more like those of a budget airline.

Check in was chaotic and the ground manager seemed more concerned about whether the flight was full than the brusque attitude of the check-in staff even at Business check-in. Onboard the seats were comfortable and the service of the business crew was attentive without being over powering. The drinks were flowing the food high quality with an excellent breakfast. The journey was smooth. The blanket could have been better and the utility set was not to the standard I would expect from Business. The entertainment was ok but there was insufficient choice. Enjoyed the flight but still improvements that could be made.

FIH-NBO-CDG. All flights on time I was surprised that they did not make any welcome announcements before takeoff very unusual. Food was great on the first leg (737-800) service was quick and efficient. The Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta airport is getting better every day with new seating areas. Boarding was slow on the Paris flight food good with a new KQ menu a nice touch for Economy Class passengers. The cabin was however too cold so passengers did not have a good night sleep. Good flights overall and friendly staff.

NBO-AMS. Plane scheduled to leave at 8.10am. At 12pm no boarding no announcement. Passengers started asking questions and an announcement came that the crew had not arrived. We ended up leaving more than 7hrs later. The TV on the plane did not work making an already 8 hr long journey almost unbearable.

LHR - NBO return on a B777. Departed and arrived on time. No problems with bags. The food was average with a full meal followed later by a snack going to NBO. On the trip north a small snack at the start of the trip and a small breakfast at the end. The cabin crew was fine. The plane was in good condition. The entertainment system had limited range of programs. The only major issue was the boarding procedure at Nairobi airport. The passengers were squeezed into a tiny departure lounge for a long time. The boarding process was a mess with announcements and ground staff contradicting each other. I would happily use them again.