Qatar Airways is restarting services to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) in Nairobi, Kenya with 14 weekly flights and to Kigali International Airport (KGL) in Rwanda with three weekly flights, a press release confirmed. With the addition of Kigali and Nairobi, the airline now operates 33 weekly flights to eight destinations in Africa, including Addis Ababa, Dar es Salaam, Djibouti, Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar and Tunis. 

With almost 15 years of operations to Nairobi and eight years of operations to Kigali, Qatar Airways added that its cargo arm continued scheduled flights to Nairobi with A330 and B777 freighters, along with freight charters, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, providing much needed capacity for exporters and importers and bringing in essential medical supplies. 

With the resumption of passenger flights to Nairobi, the cargo carrier said it will now operate 20 flights, offering more than 700 tonnes of cargo capacity each week, each way. 

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker, said: “We are delighted to resume flights to Nairobi and Kigali, totalling our flights to 33 weekly flights into Africa with eight destinations. Qatar Airways continues to maintain an expanding schedule with now more than 500 weekly flights to over 75 destinations. During the pandemic, Qatar Airways have become the largest global carrier to maintain its schedule in taking people home with the highest safety measures. Our wide network of flights during these challenging times has ensured we have kept up to date with the latest in international airport procedures. We also implemented the most advanced safety and hygiene measures on board our aircraft and in our home and hub at Hamad International Airport.”