Kenya Airways

Not Verified | I have never seen such an ill-functioning airline. The airline people took 1 hour to check my documentation and after issuing my boarding pass they informed that the flight is delayed by 3 hours which left me no choice but to stay at the airport for more than 5 hours. The airline was least bothered with the inconvenience and didn’t do anything to compensate this. I will strongly suggest never fly with them.

✅ Trip Verified | I have never flown on such an inconsiderate airline. I am appalled by the service. The flight from Paris to Nairobi was delayed, which meant I missed my connecting flights to Johannesburg then to Cape Town. This did not seem to worry them and they said it would be at my expense to rebook another flight to Cape Town. This is the fourth time I’ve flown Nairobi airways and all four times they were late and caused subsequent missing of flights. This airline should be shut down! They treat people with absolute disrespect!

✅ Trip Verified | This is the worst airline I have ever flown. We booked roundtrip direct flights to Mauritius to and from Nairobi for our honeymoon. We planned to spend 7 days in Mauritius. The night before our flight from Nairobi to Mauritius, I was emailed (yes, emailed) at 11.19pm while I was sleeping to inform me that our flight time was to be changed from 1.00pm to 7.30am. As I was understandably sleeping at the time, I did not review this message until I woke up at 5.30am that morning. I was staying in Naivasha, Kenya at the time and so did not have time to make it to the airport. We immediately called due to the fact that we were going to miss our flight and no one was able to explain to us why this change was made so last minute to the flight schedule and why we were not informed ahead of time. I would think it would be common sense that an email in the middle of the night 8 hours prior to the new proposed flight time (for a now 7.30am flight) is insufficient notice. Even after speaking to multiple different Kenya Airways employees, I was never given a reason for the flight time change (just "operations"). Ultimately we were rebooked for a flight late that day, but this was an indirect flight through Dubai, which didn't leave until 5.10pm and involved >16 hours of travel instead of what was supposed to be a 4 hour and 20 minute flight. Because of this, we were unable to check in for our hotel that we had paid for the night of our arrival and instead arrived the next morning, exhausted, having been traveling all night and transferring in Dubai in the middle of the night. To boot, the behaviour of the passengers on the plane from Nairobi to Dubai was absurd. People were constantly standing up on the plane and blocking the aisle even after being asked to sit down by flight attendants. Kids were running around unrestrained and flight attendants had to ask over the intercom for parents to restrain their children multiple times. In the row in front of me someone was watching a movie on a tablet with nonstop gunfire with the volume on max and he was not using headphones. To top it all off, in addition to missing our first night of the trip, Kenya Airways also changed our return flight time, moving it up from 7.10pm to 1.40pm. This effectively compromised two different days of our trip (as we were unable to do much the morning of our departure and were unable to take advantage of the late checkout that we were qualified for at our hotel). On top of it all, our return flight was ultimately delayed by 40 minutes and the process to check in our bags took an absurdly long time, longer than it has ever taken for any other flight I have been on. We had all of our documents and it still took us >10 minutes to complete the check in process and this was after standing in line for one hour waiting for the check in desk. Bottom line, if you can avoid it, do not fly on Kenya Airways. You will absolutely regret it. We contacted customer service multiple times and they have absolutely refused to make amends or compensate us in any way for destroying our honeymoon.

✅ Trip Verified | Worst airline I have ever flown, customer service is the worst. Their agent are rude and mean, not helpful at all. Do not fly this airline, especially via Nairobi. Food is terrible, seats are nearly broken in the aircraft

✅ Trip Verified | Flying from Lusaka to London via Nairobi last month with Kenya Airways was a shocking experience. Pre-departure tests are no longer needed upon arrival to England. However, my instinct told me to check if I needed a PCR to transit through Kenya. The COVID information on the Kenya Airways website is extremely misleading. When I filled in all the details about my trip, it said nothing about a PCR test; however, when I spoke to an agent on WhatsApp they said I need a PCR test as I am not vaccinated (screenshots attached). Having to rush around Lusaka the day before I flew to London, I eventually got a PCR test. I arrived at Lusaka Airport at 23:30 on Sunday and did not get my bags checked in until 01:10 on Monday (5 minutes before baggage drop off closes) due to the airline and staff's poor customs. I knew my bags were overweight and decided to pay the additional cost rather than repack. I was told that I cannot pay using card and can only pay in Kwacha or US Dollar. I had £100, which was roughly the additional cost and it took over 45 minutes for the staff to find out whether I could pay using British Pounds and inform me. The ATM I was advised to go to outside on the bottom floor of the airport was out of service and I had to run to the domestic airport (10 minutes from the international airport if you're in shape) to withdraw cash from the second nearest ATM. The total amount was 2066 Kwacha and when I presented 2100 Kwacha, I was told they did not have any change... If you are travelling to Southern Africa, Ethiopian Airlines is a much better airline and I can see why more people prefer them over Kenya Airways.

✅ Trip Verified | Checked in online the evening before the flight. Aircraft depicted was a 737-800. I selected and paid for an exit row seat. A couple of hours later, I received a text message saying that the flight was going to be delayed from 0745 to 1120 for the usual ‘operational reasons’. On arrival at the airport the next morning for the delayed departure, I was issued with a boarding pass that still showed my original seat number of 19A. As it turned out, the airline had changed the aircraft to an Embraer 190 (which I discovered when we were boarding), so while I had the same seat number from the original 737, it was not in an exit row on the E190. No apology, no information at check in. Boarding was chaotic as usual. They called for Business Class and Priority passengers to board first (I have Siver Elite status), only for everybody to end up on a bus that waited until it was full before proceeding to the airplane. So much for priority boarding. Even with the delayed departure time, the flight was delayed even further, departing at 1220. KQ is a disgrace. Unfortunately, they are currently the only airline serving the Nairobi-Johannesburg route and are milking this for all it’s worth with shoddy service. Pride of Africa? Not by a long shot!

✅ Trip Verified | Monrovia to Kigali through Accra and Nairobi 19-20 May 2022. The 2 aircrafts were both B737-800s in very good condition. I had to change my departure dates and it took me only 10 minutes online - and was even free as it was a “Business Light” ticket. All flights were on time. Checked in online. Monrovia Airport is full of hustlers pretending to be from the airline but want tips and they are annoying, the airline should chase them away. Kenya Airways (KQ) uses a third party lounge in Monrovia which is small but good with courteous, proactive attendants. No champagne, but plenty of drinks and liquor. The local Club beer is good. Embarking easy, fast, not a single crosscheck from lounge to seat – what a pleasure. Onboard, welcome drinks were served. The seats were huge and well bolstered, reclining, new, and very comfortable. Could sleep. IFE or WiFi was only working on the last leg. No printed menus were given out, but the FAs asked each individual on food choices. My pre-ordered special sea food meals were all different, delicious, and served without reminders. Business Class was full after Accra, but I did neither feel cramped nor stuffy. FAs, all Kenyans, were good and caring – though maybe not world class. In NBO the Pride lounge did the job for me during the 12 hours’ layover. The last stretch to Kigali was with IFE onboard, champagne, and my beloved seafood hot meal, which KQ still offers (even in economy) in contrast to Qatar and Emirates who have stopped this service at is it not qualifying as “dietary reasons” to order. Luggage delivered quickly and in good order. Good value for money – will fly with them again.

✅ Trip Verified | It was a bad experience. I had a flight from Entebbe to Nairobi and from Nairobi to Amsterdam. I missed the first one and went straight to Nairobi. Seemed that they canceled the whole flight. I had to go to sales and they, without explaining any detail, told me I had to pay 475 dollars for a new flight! As I had no time at all I had to make a quick decision but after I tried to ask for answers but I did not get any good explanation beside that I had to pay the difference. Bad customer service and lousy way to dealing with people!

✅ Trip Verified | Flew Kigali to Monrovia over Nairobi and Accra on 8-9 May 2022. Flights on time. Checked in online worked well and got my BPs in airport swiftly. No luggage issues. Recognised as Skyteam elite. Kenya Airways staff came to me in lounge and, without request, carried my hand-luggage for me from lounge to the aircraft. No waiting time nor queues anywhere on the trip despite the flights were full or almost full. KQ delivers and have rarely let me down over the years. Pearl Lounge in Kigali delivers but suffers from deprived views of airport runways. First flight was on an Embraer 190 which is a lovely, roomy aircraft. Onboard, they allowed me to shift to an exit row as my original seat was mistakenly occupied by another person. The seat now offered was very nice - it would have cost me 50 USD if booked online. Drinks were generously provided. Appreciate Kenya Airways often have the Happy Hour concept where a request for a single drink most often triggers serving two. The wine in mini-bottles was acceptable, a South African “Stonedale”. I had requested seafood meal and I got it: it was a cold, tasty salmon sandwich. FAs were kind and effective. No IFE nor WiFi but on a 90 minutes flight its not an issue. Transit in Nairobi Airport smooth and quick. It took me only 15 Minutes to reach the KQ Pride Lounge. I love this lounge, roomy and curvy designs with lots of nice sections. Had a god nights’ sleep after acquainting myself with a Niederburg rose-wine which superseded an alternative, Italian sparkling wine The next flights from Nairobi to Monrovia via Accra were on their B737-800. Despite the flight was completely full (all seats taken in both classes!) the staff manage to care passengers well. No power outlet nor monitors, only WiFi and use of personal devices were possible. Special meal rendered to perfection. I also tried other dishes as I was offered. Drinks provided generously, again Happy Hour (order 1 get 2) occurred at least once. Slight delay as the stop-over in Accra took longer time as a lot of passengers disembarked before cleaning and loads of new passengers came on board – again the flight was full. Luggage in Monrovia came out quickly. Nicely done, Kenya Airways. Can recommend.

Not Verified | Addis Ababa to Mumbai via Nairobi. Both the mentioned flights delayed in their boarding, moving and landing. The second journey took 8 hours instead of 6.5 hours. Overall very poor time management. We can't rely on this airline and book domestic flights. The worst is I booked my return ticket also with this airline. it was on 27th April 2.25 am from Mumbai. Based on this I had booked a domestic flight from Chennai to Mumbai 6pm 26th April 2022. I had taken the RTPCR test for flying. 6pm web check-in was supposed to be done for Kenya Airways. 4pm i received a message that the flight is rescheduled. The rescheduling was done inappropriately. The flight KQ-203,2.25am , 27th April was rescheduled to 27th April 7.25 am the connecting flight KQ-400, 27th April 8,30am was rescheduled to 29th April 5pm. What do I do in Nairobi for 2.5 days. I had booked through goibibo. I could not connect with any human being in gooibibo to arrange for alternate ways. So I had to cancel my domestic flight to Mumbai. I cancelled all the Kenya bookings and flew through flydubai with new cost. Still, now the refund has not been given by Kenya Airways or goibibo. I lost 4000 inr out of 5100 inr for the domestic flight due to last-minute cancellation. The RTPCR test taken went to waste.