Price offensive on Nairobi-London route
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The Nation 21 January 2004
British Airways is stepping efforts to ward off rivals for business on the lucrative Nairobi-London route, with a major price offensive.
The airline last week announced a special promotional fare of $449 (Sh35,000) to back its recent move of to increase flights on the route - from seven to 10 a week - starting on March 28.
Under the promotion, the new Nairobi-London tickets, which are on sale up to February 12 and allow one to travel between tomorrow and March 31, will be some 41 per cent cheaper than the normal $799 fare.
Country manager, Ian Petrie, attributed the airline's new-found bullishness on improved tourist arrivals from London - on the back of an ongoing destination marketing assault on the UK market by the Kenya Tourist Board -and generally favourable forecasts for the troubled skies of international aviation this year.
The Board has allocated London the highest amount of Sh140 million, as part of its Tourism Recovery Plan that was rolled out last October. Most of this money is being used in an ambitious print and electronic media advertising blitz, that started early this month and is using diverse platforms like travel magazines, Internet, TV, The London Underground and newspapers, among others.
The EU is funding the programme to the tune of Sh500 million, targeting some of the key source countries in Europe.
"We have a strong feeling at BA that Kenyan tourism has turned the corner. We are beginning to see more positive growth with in-bound tourism. Our optimism rides on this," Mr Petrie told BusinessWeek.
He believes that the latest ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) report, which forecasts a marginal, but symbolically significant, growth rate of four per cent for global aviation, will translate into increased volumes, especially on the London route.
With the proposed increase in capacity, Nairobi will be elevated to the second most important BA hub on the continent in terms of frequencies, second only to South Africa, which takes in 35 BA flights a week.
The other key nodal point, Lagos has seven weekly flights.
In tandem with the pre-frequency price offensive, BA believes it has made major improvements on its Nairobi proposition, especially in accommodating diverse preferences.
"Besides, the traditional daily Nairobi-London flights run with BA's Boeing 747-400 fleet, which allow passengers to travel overnight, we'll now be able to offer them schedules that arrive in London during daytime.
"This flexibility and choice is going to be a major selling point for us, going forward," said Mr Petrie, who is also in charge of the airline's operations in Rwanda, Uganda and Ethiopia.
The additional flights will be operated by the airline's smaller Boeing 767-400 aircraft. The airline hopes the new schedule will attract more takers, especially among long-haul transit passengers to and from other parts of Europe, Canada and the United States. A 12-week anti-Kenya travel advisory issued by the British government last year, is believed to have cost the airline dearly, after it was forced to give Kenya a wide berth.
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