Kenya Airways

More than happy with the service from Malindi to Nairobi. The travel agent messed up my ticket and did not have the ticket available at the airport. They were kind and patient and even came on board to make sure I was fine I even was upgraded to business. It was such a short flight but the additional leg room was nice and seats were comfortable. Flight is only 40 minutes - time for a snack hot towel and soda.

24 Dec 2012. Travelled KQ 484 from NBO-DAR. A midday flight we boarded quite early and waited a long time to depart. Embraer-190 was very clean and new had a delicious meal and arrived on-time and found our luggage. On our return flight boarded on-time and we left 10 minutes earlier than scheduled. The passengers seated in front of me fully lowered his seat which made me quite uncomfortable during both trips however the crew were kind.

Traveled to NBO on 31 Sep 2012. Flight delayed due to the fact that a jacket was found in a seat with no passenger attached to it. A few mumbled announcements were made to find the passenger. A security delay was announced followed by a need to re-fuel the aircraft before take-off. Many passengers missed their onward flights. Seats were incredibly uncomfortable. Felt like there was no padding and my seat cushion slipped forward revealing the metal base of the seat. Very uncomfortable. Inflight service did not work. No matter how many times they rebooted it certain seats were still no-ops. Headphones were falling apart and the one pair that was not was of no use as the socket on the seat I was sitting in and the one next to me was broken. The meal service was similar to what you would expect on a charter flight. Very basic breads cold to frozen and dry salad was tired and limp. I will not be flying KQ in futre unless I can pay for a C class ticket.

5 Nov 2012 KQ116 Nairobi to Amsterdam Boeing 767 Morning flight. I booked to fly KLM for both out and inbound journeys but unfortunately found myself obliged to fly KQ for the return seats and fittings equally dilapidated as the KQ flight to Paris that I now systematically avoid. Inflight entertainment was simply missing. I didn't think any airline would put these kind of flights on popular international routes. 2 hrs after take-off the breakfast trolley is rolling past 1 hour later flight attendant offers me a tray with bread croissant butter and juice announcing continental breakfast. Half an hour later I'm still waiting for a hot drink. In the meantime the captain is apologising about late take-off from Nairobi as if it was something to be proud of. Tea eventually comes 1 hour after 'continental breakfast'. Incidentally the temperatures in the cabin is kept glacial. This is nothing compared to lunch. After a terribly long wait to only to end up with a repeat of the earlier back and forth game of trolleys and trays partially empty trays trays with this or that missing. My salad comes with the inside of the already unsealed lid smeared with what looks like chocolate pudding? We are a long cry from the fancy looking menu proudly presented at the onset of flight. Between 2003 and 2007 KQ was my favourite company on this route but it will be a while before I choose KQ over other alternatives.

I found the flight horrible. My partners T.V didn't work there and back). Seats not comfy when we called the flight attendant it was over an hour before anyone came that is after the bell was switched off several times. I was not sat with my partner and when I asked if it was possible if we could sit together they couldn't be bothered to help.

Nairobi to Lagos after a 30 hours delay - yes 30 hours! But what was most annoying is that the Kenya Airways staff refused to explain what the problem was...was it mechanical or what? Turned out the cabin crew were staging industrial action to try to prevent non-Kenyan nationals working for the airline. But the refusal to explain anything only made passengers more and more angry. Never want to fly with them again.

To be honest I never got on the airplane got to Nairobi for a flight to Lagos 05/10/2012 to be told the flight was cancelled and they had 'no spare airplanes'. We were told to 'try again the next day.' In the ensuing chaos business class passengers with confirmed ticket for another flight (Nairobi to Addis) were told the flight was overbooked and full already. The airline reflects the airport which is among the worst I've encountered.

KQ is on time. I have flown them 12 times over the last few weeks ex. NBO to MBA and EBB and they are on time. Boarding commences at least 30 minutes before departure and you may have to sit on the plane for 15 minutes but all flights were in time. Flights have been very full. Service has been good (no food service just drinks) and priority luggage works. In EBB our bags were sitting near the conveyor belt having been off loaded first. Let's hope they can keep it up.

Flew KQ return flight from CDG to NBI Aug20/Sep4. Flights were about on time. But very old run down 767 (worse than Delta) with pathetic seats/comfort and non-existent inflight entertainment. Staff looked bored and food was poor. With all this you'd expect a discount but no: 900 euros return and the plane was half empty on 20th.

We flew from Heathrow to Nairobi on 4th Sep with the flight leaving on time. We managed to get extra legroom seats (row 12) as my husband is 6 ft. 5 and they were fine. Boarding was fairly structured and the food (an evening meal - I chose the veggie option - stuffed peppers) was pretty good - hot and tasty with a snack just before landing for breakfast. I didn't expect much from the IFE from the reviews and wasn't bothered anyway. Some parts of the cabin were a bit frayed around the edges but no real complaints. Crew were fairly attentive. Both internal flights were also fine - a short hop between Nairobi and Mombassa and vice versa - the first left early the second a few minutes late. On both there was time for a snack and a drink with good crew service. Flying back on 13th from Nairobi to Heathrow was fine too - left on time but no extra legroom seats this time so a bit cramped for my husband. IFE was very poor - his seatback TV didn't work and mine was hit and miss. Again no complaints about food. Boarding this time was a bit more chaotic and JKIA is a horrible airport - cramped chaotic and poor flight information. Luggage all arrived with no problems too. Maybe we were just lucky given all the other poor experiences but I can't say there was anything majorly wrong with any of our flights or the service we received.