Kenya Airways (KQ) has announced that it has received its second Boeing 737-800 Freighter as it seeks to expand its cargo capacity and serve its customers.
The acquisition of the cargo plane takes the total cargo fleet to four. The new plane offers 20 tons of cargo capacity with a range of up to 7 hours and joins the current KQ Cargo freighter fleet of one (1) Boeing 737-800 and two (2) Boeing 737-300 Freighters.
The Kenya Airways cargo fleet will offer customers and partners more cargo capacity on global network especially the Middle East, Asia and Africa. The freighters will capture opportunities emerging from The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to catalyse trade within the continent and out of the continent.
Allan Kilavuka Group Managing Director and CEO, Kenya Airways says, “We have made a commitment to gradually increase our cargo business and support our customers in their long-term needs and deliver possibilities in the air. The arrival of the new B738 Freighter, the second one this year, and the fourth in our cargo fleet, is a significant milestone in KQ Cargo’s fleet expansion plans. We are confident the additional cargo aircraft will allow us to further increase our capacity and significantly increase our frequencies as we propel Africa’s prosperity and connect its people, cultures and markets.”
KQ Cargo will deploy the freighter to the following routes: Sharjah and Dubai World Central in the United Arab Emirates, Jeddah, and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, Dakar in Senegal, Lagos in Nigeria, Ndjamena in Chad, Mogadishu in Somalia, Mumbai in India, Free Town in Sierra Leone, Monrovia in Liberia among many other destinations.
Kenya Airways, a member of the Sky Team Alliance, flies to 42 destinations worldwide, 35 of which are in Africa from its its hub at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi. Its fleet comprises of wide-body Boeing aircraft that includes its flagship B787 Dreamliner and narrow-body Embraer E190 aircraft.