Kenya Airways

I was scheduled to fly from Chicago to Brussels and take Brussels Air to Nairobi. July 5th ORD flight was late missed connection re-routed through London London to Nairobi via Kenya Airlines. One checked bag did not arrive. Twice Kenya Air made arrangements to deliver bag while I was in country twice they failed to show. Repeated attempts to contact them after I returned were futile. Six weeks later United calls and says they have my bag.

Flew on a 767 from CDG to NBO on July 19th and then a 777 from NBO to AMS on August 17th. Flight from Paris to Nairobi showed as being "on time" for 11am departure but bit by bit departure was pushed back until 3pm without any explanation whatsoever. Once on board 767 both AVOD devices did not work making 8-hour journey feel even longer. Food was average (same as most US carriers) and service was kind. On return flight we were once again delayed for one hour without explanation and once again AVOD in both seats did not work. Food on return flight was less than pleasant. I did not have high expectations but Kenya Airways made even mainstream US carriers look luxurious.

I live in Kenya and I am a Flying Blue Gold member. Unfortunately I have to fly KQ frequently. I say "unfortunately" mainly due to the more than frequent delays without explanations without anyone responsible and without real support as to what to do. You feel totally lost in the horrible JKIA. When flights get delayed over night people are ferried to hotels in CBD instead of hotels closer to the airport. Apart from this standing joke on KQ unreliability of flights I have to say that I have always received my luggage (touch wood). In-flight entertainment is a complete joke with old movies on the system that only works half the time. Twice in business NBO-Paris I had no in-flight entertainment at all and no apologies for it. Food is not too bad. Seats are old and uncomfortable. Now if KQ would at least be a cheap airline I could accept all this but given the pricing structure it is just annoying. $1000 in Econ NBO to Maputo? I have seen worse but I have also seen much better.

A pleasant surprise with this airline. I made sure I bought travel insurance and examined the policy wording after reading these reviews on this site. However from HKG-BKK-HKG it was clean efficient and with good service. Outbound flight delayed by 45 minutes but inward was on time. Luggage and check-in fast and efficient too (although couldn't check-in online). The price we paid made this a budget airline purchase effectively and we treated as such. Would be happy to fly with them again if we found a good deal.

Flew them last month from Lusaka-Nairobi and return on old Boeing 767's. While going flight was via Lillongwe and on return via Harare. Both ways seats were broken and quite uncomfortable. Staff were not friendly at all. Cabin and toilets were quite dirty. Food both ways was also horrible. On return in Nairobi check-in staff gave me 2 boarding passes one for the Nairobi-Harare flight and the other for the Harare- Lusaka flight meaning I had to change seats in Harare! Never seen that in any other airline. Recommend to avoid this airline if possible and use alternatives when flying to and from Africa such as SAA/ET.

Flight from Nairobi to Kigali cancelled with no notice and no reason. Rebooked on later flight via Bujumbura. Stayed on the ground at Bujumburra for 2 hours. No luggage on arrival and no one cared. Phone call on a Saturday resulted in "call back Monday we don't have staff to chase luggage on the weekend. In air service was good on all our Kenya Airways flights but poor schedule management and incredibly bad luggage management means I will not fly again if I can help it. Such a pity it could be a great airline.

Flew Dubai to Nairobi to Dubai. Both ways cramped stuffy no IFE and filthy conditions. Also on return flight no reading light and arm rest broken. Flight from Nairobi to Dubai had been cancelled a month before but not informed. Staff made us feel that it was our fault. Kept waiting for hours before we could speak to someone in authority. No genuine interest shown by staff. Will not be using the Pride Of Kenya again.

Flight to Johannesburg. Expected departure at 9.10 called KQ five minutes away from JKIA and informed of delayed departure (11.40). Checked in and informed of another delayed departure to 12 Noon. Boarded for departure at 12 noon Captain announces that we must wait for passengers connecting from New Delhi. Crew advise that they have no idea how long this will take. We finally depart at 12.40. KQ did not know that there were passengers arriving from New Delhi all along? The flight scheduled for 7am had not left thus passengers booked for this flight still stuck with everyone else. What exactly is happening - now informed that the Johannesburg-Nairobi 10.55 never actually exist and has never flown - but KQ will nevertheless book you on this flight and demand USD 80 for any attempt to change! Is this still the 'Pride' or the 'Embarrassment' of Africa in as far as this route is concerned. A number of Kenyans flying on this route frequently advise that you need to stay away from Kenya Airways. I hope that the return trip will be without delay.

I'm writing from the JKIA airport in Nairobi still stuck for 24 hours without any explanation from management. There was a 5 hour delay for all flights after that operations at the airport resumed to normal. But Kenya Airways kept telling us we would depart every 3 hours until 1am when passengers became angry and had to storm the First Class lounge of Kenya Airways so someone from Management could be called to explain the reason for the long delay. Needless to say no one showed up. Some passengers with children have been stuck at the airport for 2 days. Some passengers - not all have been given food. On average I would say that in the last 24 hours passengers have had 1 meal. Here we are paying $1100 from Nairobi to Accra but this service is pathetic.

Checked in with seats assigned near the front. Trip from the Seychelles back to Nairobi for our connection back to LHR on BA. Boarded only to be told to forget the seat assignment it became an Easyjet / Ryanair fiasco. This happened on the Nairobi-Seychelles route too! I fly a lot and I must say the crew were without doubt the most miserable and rudest crew I've come across. On a positive note the food was quite good and the movie for a short flight was welcome the crew and boarding let the whole thing down. This was a 3 hour economy flight from Nairobi to Mahe both ways torn between yes and no for recommendation as pro's and cons.