Lufthansa to Take Over Nairobi Operations from Brussels Airlines

The airline services will be replaced by direct Lufthansa flights between Nairobi and Frankfurt, officials said yesterday in a statement sent from Brussels.

Mr Pierre Declerck, the airlines country manager said the decision was taken in line with the carrier’s tradition that has seen it regularly reviews its networks “to offer greater flexibility to passengers and maximise synergies.”

“Our passengers from and to Kenya will have the options of our partners SWISS and Lufthansa, who will offer direct flights between Europe and Nairobi,” Mr Decleck said. “All of us at Brussels Airlines, and its predecessor Sabena, are proud of our long association with Kenya.”

Brussels Airlines has been flying to and from Nairobi since the start of its operations in 2002. The German airline Lufthansa will resume direct passenger flights to Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport from October 24 after an 18-year absence from the Kenyan capital.

“As we hand over to our Lufthansa Group colleagues, I would like to thank all our passengers and business partners ….. All SWISS and Lufthansa flights out of Nairobi are operated in close cooperation with Brussels Airlines and I am convinced that our customers are in best hands with our partner airlines.”

Until now, Lufthansa has relied on code-shared flights with partners Swiss and Brussels Airlines to connect their passengers to Nairobi.

According to a statement from the airline released earlier this month, “LH 590 will leave Frankfurt every morning on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday (and on Fridays from December 11, to the end of January 2016) and will reach Nairobi in the evening after a journey of more than eight hours.

Lufthansa Cargo has however been offering four weekly flights from Nairobi.