Kenyan Airways is looking at a twiceweekly B747F service from Nairobi toItaly, using a B747-200F freighter ofOcean Airlines, according to its headof cargo, Shawn McGuinness.

The route might be supported withregional freighter flights into Nairobi,but no decision on this has yet beentaken. "We are shying away from it a bit," McGuinness admits. "We wouldbe competing against governmentowned airlines, which could be a bit of a problem."

The carrier otherwise took deliveryof its fourth 777 in February and willbe deploying it daily to Mumbai, andon other routes to be decided. Therest of its long-haul fleet consists of767s, which it flies daily to Dubai, fourtimes a week to Guangzhou via Dubai,and four times a week to Hong Kongvia Bangkok.

A new secure product was launchedin March on the Dubai and Bangkok-Hong Kong routes, aimed at valuableproducts. This follows an express product launched in March last year and apharmaceuticals product launched inSeptember. McGuinness insists both areexperiencing strong demand.

He says he is not worried by theincrease in Middle Eastern carriersflying into Africa, and competing forAfrica-Asia traffic.

"We cover lots of destinations in Africathey don’t and have lots of partnerssupporting us into our Nairobi hub,"he says. Among new African destinationsto be added by Kenyan Airways incoming year will be Cotonou and Brazzaville. 

– Peter Conway