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Kenya: Delta Puts Off Service Launch, Citing Poor Market Conditions
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Business Daily (Nairobi)
25 March 2008
Posted to the web 26 March 2008
Wangui Maina
Nairobi
Delta, the American airline that was scheduled to start flying to Kenya mid this year, has pushed the inauguration of the service to December, citing poor market conditions.
The launch had been fixed for June 2, but will now wait until December 8.
A notice on the airline's website said the postponement was "due to poor market conditions" caused by the outbreak of political violence early this year. The violence led to massive cancellation of tourist bookings leading to widespread loss of jobs in the sector.
The postponement is expected to impact on growth prospects for the US market, which was expected to get a boost from availability of direct flights between the two countries.
Industry players however said rescheduling of the launch was unlikely to affect their plans because marketing of the route was yet to begin.
Mr Joash Olum, the managing director of operations at Somak Travel, said most agents had not included the airline in their marketing plans as most of the promotion material for 2008 was produced last year.
Delta was expected to make Kenya more accessible for Americans who have to endure many hours Flying through Europe or Middle East. The US is turning into one of the fastest growing tourism markets for Kenya having closed last year in second position after the UK. During the same period, the number of US tourists visiting Kenya grew by 17 per cent to more than 100,000.
During the announcement of the tourism sector performance in 2007 Dr Achieng' Ongong'a, the managing director of the Kenya Tourism Board, said the US market had suffered only a slight decline in the wake of January's political turmoil because unlike Europe, it is not dependent on charter flights.
Kenya is currently linked to the United States by major airlines such as Virgin Atlantic, KLM, British Airways, Emirates and Qatar Airways that continued to offer scheduled flights between the two destinations even at the height of the political crisis.
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Delta was expected to offer less connection hassles for tourists and was to fly via Dakar, Senegal four times a week .The airline is one of the biggest in the US, with flights to over 300 destinations. It is also one of the founding members of the SkyTeam alliance of which national carrier, Kenya Airways, is an associate member.
Delta Airlines is also scheduled to increase its frequencies between New York and Cape Town via Dakar from three to four flights.
The airline has been expanding in the past two years adding more international destinations to its network than any other US airline.
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