Kenya Airways

✅ Trip Verified | Nairobi to Mauritius This was the final leg of the itinerary from Manchester to Mauritius (Manchester to Nairobi flown with Qatar Airways) - flights sold by Qatar Airways. This flight was a short 4 hour flight. Nairobi Airport itself if not the best for transit, though we spent the 7 hour layover in the Pride Business Class Lounge (having paid $40 for a day pass) which was satisfactory. Cabin Crew appeared a little unfriendly on arrival onto aircraft, though pleasant with requests and service. The aircraft itself appeared old and tired, and could benefit from modernisation. For a small flight, a light meal was provided, which in honesty was good (Asian Vegetarian). Sadly few flight announcements and no advice that the plane was descending into Mauritius and landing - it just landed! No inflight entertainment - screen did not work! Finally the timing of this flight is not good. Arrival at Mauritius at 0300 in the morning is strange and untimely. Not sure why the schedule is this way, but certainly not a time that I would be looking at again in the future. In summary, an ‘ok’ airline - convenient to ensure Qatar Airways flights for the route, but will look at alternatives to Mauritius in the future. Put it this was, if Qatar Airways either fly directly to Mauritius, or have a transit in Seychelles or Johannesburg, then this would be the preferred option. Nairobi is ok, but I think the experience with Kenya Airways is not something I would revisit as experienced.

✅ Trip Verified | Travelled Kigali via Nairobi to Johannesburg and back within 2 days mid-March 2020. Aircraft were E190 on short leg and Boeing 787-8 on long legs. All flights on time. No luggage issues. Checked in online. Had to wait 1 hour in airport as they only open check in 2 hours before departure. Upgraded 1st leg KGL-NBO by a modest, but successful online bid. Granted lounge access by courtesy in Nairobi as my Gold Card was just earned during the same trip (but of course not processed in their system). In Kigali they use Pearl lounge which is deteriorating since Rwandair opened a new lounge opposite. Kenya Airways Pride Lounge in Nairobi is wonderful. Food served onboard was substandard and particular breakfasts were a disgrace. However, drink supplies were fine. I like the “Happy Hours” approach they use on regional routes like to Dubai and JNB where you order a drink or wine and they often double up the order without asking. I have only received this double up service before on Gulf Air and the now deceased Jet Airways. That is generous, positive approach and make one feel very appreciated and cared for in economy class where benefits otherwise are sparse. FAs are very good though advised an FA to avoid chewing gum as it is cause feeling of disrespect to some passengers. Champagne on business class is good and offered also before departure. No IFE on short legs but on long legs plenty of films to watch. No WiFi onboard. I was given 3 seats on all flights were not full thanks to corona virus fear and close downs.

✅ Trip Verified | Nairobi to Dar-Es-Salam. It was a connection flight, I booked the tickets from different companies separately. This flight was the last resort to avoid losing my next flight and it got delayed more than an hour, so I lost the next flight. In the counter they said it was just not in the contract whatever could happen because of a delay of less than 3 hours.

✅ Trip Verified | Nairobi to London Heathrow. Awful, simply awful. Substantial delays on both the outbound and return legs. Really poor customer service in response. Customer service was poor in general, on board and at the airport when requesting an update to the flight. I would not recommend Kenya Airways to anybody, not even my worst enemy!

✅ Trip Verified | Johannesburg to Kigali via Nairobi 5-6 Feb 2020; on Boeing 787-8 and Embraer 190. Almost on time; first flight fell 25 Minutes late. I had made a low, but successful bid for 2nd leg to be upgraded as it also gave access to Kenya’s Lounge in Nairobi which is good and spacious. Ticket cheap, bought from an online travel company. Kenya Airways have reduced luggage allowance for regional flights, with Silver level in their Flying Blue FFP I eventually managed to get a 2nd, huge suitcase, added to be check-in (first one included in ticket). Check-in, transfers, and communication went fine. Onboard, great service, lots of drinks as there seem to be a Happy Hour going on at afternoon/evening flights. Whenever passengers ordered juice, beer or wine they were instantly handed double up without discussion. I love that attitude. It gives a feeling of luxury. I have experienced this before with KQ (on their Dubai route). Food was good, two options with the possibility to add up more as long stock lasted. FAs were fine. Call bells answered. Duty free sales onboard worked well. The Dreamliner is great but space provided in economy is humiliatingly small. I was lucky to have 3 seats to myself to survive lack of leg and breathing space. Pride lounge in Nairobi is a breeze and I slept well till next morning to catch last leg as being upgraded. Last leg morning flight NBO-KGL was uneventful. Of 9 business class seats (1 x 2 configuration). No complaints apart from a joke of “breakfast” consisting of a tired, reheated croissant. No cheese, only jam to supply. Champagne and coffee/tea given on request.

✅ Trip Verified | Bangkok to Johannesburg via Nairobi on 5th February 2020. Both flights on newer B787-8 aircrafts. Check-in and luggage handling went smoothly, but had to fight a bit with ground staff to get all my BPs issued on spot. Booking handling online works well. Their AF-KLM lounge offered in Bangkok is poor (like Thai Airways lounges) but their Pride lounge in Nairobi is good and spacious. Hardware on Kenya Airways is good and they are good on ground to tackle even complicated issues. The FAs are also good, plenty, observant. They are mainly Kenyans which does not help Chinese nor Thai passengers much. The very weak point of Kenya Airways is the food. Business class does not provide food any better than their Economy class and is plain, without vision, looking shabby. Competing airlines like Ethiopian, Turkish, South African, and Egypt serves much better and inspiring food in their economy class. Steel cutlery and table preparation nice. But that’s it. Dinner from BKK was a cold shabby dish with chopped salad and 3 ridiculous small pieces of sliced meatballs. Breakfast offered was inedible continental or fried rice. Very poor offerings. No meat, no cocktails, no cheeses, no ice cream, no smoothies, chocolates, no fruits (watermelon does not count). Extremely poor catering, a disgrace for the airline. Beverages are shamefully very sparse, only 2 juices (apple or orange) are offered. Wines are only passable. Beers are cheap, waterish industrial stuff: 2 brands, Tusker and Heineken – not providing any alternatives to each other. No souvenir, no pyjamas, no luxury feelings at all. No lobster, no seafood, no caviar, no mutton, goat, pork, no beef, no chicken (maybe inside the breakfast sausage). FA staff admitted that economy class had the same catering as business though of course presented simpler. 1st flight on time, 2nd departed 1 hour late. Miles given quickly to Flying Blue. I will go again when the price is right. Lower expectation to food to zero and eat well at home or in lounge. Then it can be fairly good value for money when prices are promoted.

Not Verified | Johannesburg to Bangkok via Nairobi. As a fairly regular flier, this was one of the most disappointing flights I’ve ever been on. The Boeing 787 is a great plane, but from check-in to baggage collection and everything in between I was underwhelmed. The aircraft interior is tatty and dirty with frayed seat covers and ripped seat-back pockets that your phone falls through the holes. The cabin service only started 45 minutes after take-off, no water or drinks and they first serve their very mediocre meals before you get a small plastic cup of water which we got 1 hour into the flight. Then the dirty trays only get cleared around an hour after meals are served so you can’t stow the tray table and sleep until they’ve cleared the cabin. On both the flight to Bangkok and the return sector I tried in vain to call a cabin attendant using the call button, but they literally walk past you with the blue light glaring and carry on doing whatever they’re busy with. I needed assistance on one occasion as the passenger next to me spilled their whole drink over me and I needed a towel to dry my leg and shoes, but after 20 minutes I eventually switched off the light and gave up and slept with a wet leg. On another occasion I needed the attendant to take my dirty food tray (nearly a full hour after the meal had been served) so that I could stow my fold down tray to get up to go to the bathroom but he refused to take it and said I must wait until they clear the whole cabin. I chose Kenya Airways because it was the quickest trip with shortest connection and I assumed there would be similar service to AF / KLM with them being shareholders, but if I ever fly to Bangkok again from Johannesburg I will certainly pay the extra money and take the longer layover in Dubai or Singapore and fly Emirates or Singapore Airlines, I will not fly Kenya Airways long-haul again unless it’s specifically to go to Nairobi or elsewhere in East Africa.

Not Verified | Just returned after spending nearly 10 hours at OR Tambo airport. Flight was cancelled due to a faulty spring on a flap. While I recognise theses things happen I was appalled by the way the staff treated customers. Little or no information was given. KQ staff were almost completely absent except when tracked. Sent from pillar to post trying to find luggage, no lunch vouchers provided, then informed you had to re-book yourselves on flights so complete mayhem trying to get to the KQ reservation desk back in the departures, non airside counter. Was informed no compensation except for new booking would be provide and if needed a hotel. I have family in Pretoria so headed back to them, incurring extra costs such as taxi fares but no compensation for these and all the other costs incurred let alone any compensation for wasting my and my 2 kids whole day, losing a days work, missing appointments etc. Am absolutely amazed at how badly KQ staff in Johannesburg are trained. This is not the first time. Last year when they lost my luggage for 3 days, KQ staff at ORTambo failed to inform me I was due 100 usd compensation. I only found out when I arrived in Nairobi and asked at the help desk in the arrival hall.

Not Verified | Cape Town to Mumbai via Nairobi. I have taken loads of flights in the last few years all across the world and this is by far the worst experience I have ever had. Our flight was delayed for over 10 hours because there was no crew availability. Because of that our connecting flight was missed, and we were rescheduled to a flight, which made us reach Mumbai 25 hours late. When we reached the airport, the system was not working, and we were given hand written boarding passes. The process delayed the flight by more than 4 more hours. The airline staff were clueless as they apparently said that the head office in Nairobi was not picking their calls. I don’t know what is up with Kenya Airways. It’s better to cancel the trip than to travel with them.

✅ Trip Verified | Nairobi to Mahe. They cancelled our flight to Mahe without notice. We tried to check in evening before our departure date but their system indicated incorrect personal details. We called customer service but they could not explain to us but instead said that we should check in at airport. On arrival at airport our flight original time 1915 was cancelled so we couldn’t catch our connecting flights. We went to their office at Entebbe and found a staff who was very unprofessional and unwilling to help. When we indicated that we are gold members and frequent flyers and we wish to file a complaint and asked for her name, then she was willing to assist us. We missed our connecting flights, paid hotel we did not sleep in. Sleepless night. All they had to do is to inform us that our flight was cancelled and they didn’t.