Travel To & Around

Africa’s low cost Airline – Fly 540.com

2011-12-08T12:01:58Z

In the past 20 years, travel in Kenya has not doubled but quadrupled ten times over and the leisure as well as business traveler is always looking for a better deal but most of all efficiency and safety.

You will note that Kenya’s sky as well as other countries in Africa will have the odd Orange dot flying across the cloudless blue skies – the new planes owned and managed by Fly540.com.

Fly540 has turned the page on low cost flying where in Europe as well as north America, the frequent flyer may be tempted to pay the odd extra dollar for efficiency, main commuter airports closer to get to, better take off times but most of all to be associated and aided by kind, professional and courteous staff where some of the world leading low cost airlines are completely lacking and getting worse as they get bigger!

Their Fly540.com staff dressed in bright orange but well toned uniform are professional and ready to help where necessary, at the sales offices, check in desks as well as in the air.

Fly540.com allows a 20kg luggage allowance per passenger unlike some of their competitors that stop at 15kg and make you pay extra for the rest.

From turbo prop airplanes, the company has invested in the latest jet engines for the regular passenger and for business or private traveler, Fly540.com has a fleet of Gulf Stream jets, Learjets, a Falcon and a Challenger.

Being a frequent flyer in East Africa, it is a pleasure to fly with them and I lately noted that they are flying into “The Ridge” situated in Vipingo – an airstrip located in one of the latest unique projects created by a small group of Kenya’s entrepreneurs offering a professional 18 hole Golf course, restaurant as well as the opportunity to purchase and build villas in the middle of a secure sisal estate overlooking the vast beauty of the Indian ocean in the distance.

Fly 540 has taken this route into its timetable and flight plans opening new relaxed travel into the north coast providing super easy access north and south of Kilifi. I am sure we will see more positive news from this airline in the near future –

Nico Pannevis

Bushdrums.com

Flights to Norther Kenya - OPEN

2009-07-21T18:01:07Z

KENYA WILDLIFE SERVICE

GRANTED LICENCE TO FLY

TOURISTS

The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) has granted the

Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) a commercial licence to fly tourists

to Northern Kenya.

The one-year licence restricts flights to areas around Sibiloi

National Park in Turkana, Marsabit National Park and Malka

Mari National Park on the Ethiopia-Kenya border between

Mandera and Moyale.

We are pleased that the non scheduled passenger air service

licence provides us with an opportunity to play a leading role in

opening up parts of the country that are remote yet significant

where other commercial air operators don’t fly. We are excited

at the prospects of enabling tourists and researchers to access

the cradle of mankind around Lake Turkana.

Other air operators are expected to start flights once the KWS

non scheduled passenger air service shows that the business is

viable.

Most of Kenya’s tourism is concentrated in the southern circuit

around Amboseli and the Maasai Mara leaving enormous

potential in Northern and Western regions.

The KWS Airwing, based at Wilson Airport in Nairobi, has been a

huge expense on the Service, especially because the costs of

running 12 aircraft and 14 pilots, which on average costs Sh4.5

million per month.

KCAA is finalising the process of approving a 7-seater

helicopter, 13-seater caravan and 4-seater Cessna aircraft for

the non-scheduled passenger air services.

The commercial service is meant to help KWS Airwing, a critical

ingredient in Kenya's efforts to protect and manage wildlife,

raise revenue to meet part of its costs for conservation work.

It is also meant to open up to tourists least visited national parks

in remote areas of the country as part of the Vision 2030 which

has tourist as one of its core pillars.

KWS has nine other aircraft for anti-poaching and conservation

work permanently stationed in Nakuru, Tsavo, Lamu, Meru,

Marsabit and Aberdare National Parks.

Two of the KWS pilots have Airline Transport Pilot Licenses while

four have the Commercial Pilot Licence. Besides these, KWS has

five reserve pilots, including Mr Joe Obrian, the Swiss

Ambassador to Kenya.

KWS plans to get an aircraft to be stationed in Kitale to cover

conservation efforts in the Western region. All the other

conservation areas have aircrafts.

BACKGROUND

•

of 585,000 km square, the KWS Airwing is permanently on

standby to fly into action anywhere in Kenya, either for

routine monitoring and conservation field trips or security

operations, search and rescue missions well as emergency

evacuations.
With 59 national parks and reserves spread over a country
•

budget of about Sh4.5 million a month including fuel and

aircraft maintenance.
The KWS Airwing was launched in 1990 and works on a
•

national parks that lies about 560 km from Nairobi, is one

of Kenya's most quiet and remote

the scenic and serene Lake Paradise on top of Mt

Marsabit, elephants, Greater Kudu, mountain lions,

buffalos and other wildlife. The extensive forest supports

animals that would not normally be found in arid northern

Kenya. There are elephants, rhinos, lions, leopards,

cheetahs, buffaloes, wart hogs, Grevy's Zebra, reticulated

giraffes, hyenas and antelopes.

Abundant rare birds are also found within Marsabit

National Park. Many water birds hang out at Lake

Paradise and a variety of raptors can be seen on the

shaggy cliffs and in the treetops. Marsabit National Park

was home to Ahmed, an elephant that was given 24-hour

protection by a presidential order. Ahmed, who boasted

some of the biggest tusks ever recorded, died at age 55.
Marsabit National Park, another of Kenya's remotenational parks. It has
•

international significance as the cradle of mankind and

teems with fossils, zebras, gazelles and impala. It is near

Lake Turkana with its world famous population of

crocodiles.

scenic landscapes on the shores of Lake Turkana. The

park was partially established through the initiative of the

National Museums of Kenya to protect unique prehistoric

and archeological sites, some of which are linked to the

origin of man. The fossils include a crocodile

brumpti
Sibiloi National Park which was gazetted in 1973 hasThe park covers 1570 Km2 of wilderness withEuthecodon, giant tortoise Petusios broadleyi, elephant
Elephas recki

shore, dry semi desert bush and near desert country. The

park is waterless apart from the alkaline waters of the lake.
and the petrified forest. The terrain is lake
•

high wildlife concentration. It is located along the Daua River

on the Kenya-Ethiopia border in the extreme north east of

Kenya on the Mandera plateau. It has a hot and dry climate.

The area is largely semi arid bush land and scrubby grassland

with riparian woodland and palms along the Daua River. The

area is also considered a site for plant endemism.

Its main attractions are; Malka Mari fort, hills and valleys.

Unfortunately, it has not been developed.
Malka Mari National Park was gazetted in 1989 because of its
•

national parks and reserves across the country in the last

couple of years at a cost of Sh45 million, including those in

remote areas.
KWS has invested heavily in tourism infrastructure in many
•

a cost of Sh55 million in Meru (Mulika, Kinna, Masanduku)

and Lake Nakuru (Naishi) national parks. KWS plans to

spend a further Sh1 billion in the next two years on

improving roads, bridges and airstrips in various national

parks and reserves across the country.
Various airstrips have been upgraded to tarmac status at
•

a drive to realise Kenya’s target of 5 million tourists per year by

2012. Already, KWS is planning to build airstrips in Ruma

National Park (Homa Bay) and Mt Elgon National Park near

Kitale Town. In the near future, more airstrips will be upgraded,

including one at Voi in Tsavo East National Park, Kamboyo in

Tsavo West National Park and Mweiga in the Aberdare

National Park. Each region has an aircraft for patrols and other

conservation activities.
Opening up of the domestic airspace is one of the key cogs in
For more information on the commercial air

licence, please contact:

Maj (Rtd) Solomon Nyanjui

Head of KWS Airwing (www.kws.org)

Cellphone 0722713944

Kenya Airways – The pride of Africa

2009-06-02T18:17:45Z

Kenya Airways – The pride of Africa

Now – here I have to take care of what I say as I have quite a few friends who are Captains, pilots and crew members of Kenya Airways….

Kenya Airways is part of the Skyteam - http://www.skyteam.com and is based in Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi. Active since 1977 – KQ has been growing and going from strength to strength.

They mainly fly to cities in Africa, a few to the middle and far east as well as London, Amsterdam, and Paris. They currently do not fly to the USA or Canada.

Once in Kenya – you will be able to use Kenya Airways to fly locally to all smaller airports around the country and you may be positively surprised with their accuracy on departing and arrival times!

For further information on prices, destinations or to book your ticket using Kenya Airways visit their website on http://www.kenya-airways.com

This information has been collected using various websites, search engines and information gathered from other Bushdrummers to help you find flights to Africa. Kindly note that some information may change in time.

Ethiopian Airlines

2009-06-02T17:58:42Z

Ethiopian Airlines – The new spirit of Africa

Ethiopian airlines has been active for over 60 years and in the past decade they have been going from strength to strength providing more destinations to fly to in Africa (using Addis Ababa Bole International Airport as the hub – change over) .

Their prices are quite competitive and service is on the increase – they have won several awards over the past years.

Currently they work together with the following airlines providing more destinations for the traveller:

South African Airways
Lufthansa
TAAG-Angola Airlines
Gulf Air
Air One – which now owns part of Alitalia
Brussels Airlines

For further information on prices, destinations or to book your ticket using Ethiopian Airlines visit their website on http://www.ethiopianairlines.com

Travelling to Africa with Alitalia

2009-06-02T17:31:00Z

Travelling to Africa with Alitalia

Part of Skyteam, (http://www.skyteam.com) Alitalia flies on a regular basis to north African countries and at times to South Africa and Nairobi.

Alitalia has merged together with Air One – (http://www.flyairone.it/ ) which I hope will provide Italy’s flagship carrier with more professional staff that may bring them back on par with other international airlines.

2008 and the beginning of 2009 has seen Alitalia provide very unprofessional service by crew and ground staff with countless delays, strikes and cancellations and unfortunately to date their telephone sales team for general enquires as well as those who are part of their Club Millemiglia still remain perhaps the worst I have personally come across and used in the travel industry.

When calling their telephone sales team for information and general questions expect to be cut off half way during a conversation as the telephone staff prefer – perhaps to go out for a coffee…. A reputation they have created for themselves globally and one that hopefully under the new management will soon be put to an end. A historic company such as Alitalia deserves better!

For further information on prices, destinations or to book your ticket using Alitalia visit their website on http://www.alitalia.com

Fly Emirates - to various cities in Africa

2009-06-02T11:50:42Z

Fly Emirates

If there is an airline or airways that can actually show their competitors that one can run a company with over 8000 members of staff and still provide quality service – then perhaps Emirates can be proud to fly their flag.

Emirates was formed just over 20 years ago and is owned by the Government of Dubai.

Emirates has quite a few connections from Dubai to various countries and cities in Africa – for a full list of these destinations follow the link to their website - http://www.emirates.com/it/english/flash/route_map.aspx

If your destination takes you to Dubai to change planes – you will enjoy shopping at both international airports in Dubai.

FYI - Al Maktoum International Airport, planned to become the largest passenger and cargo hub in the world, ten times larger than Dubai International Airport and Dubai Cargo Village combined.

If completed as planned, the airport will have an annual cargo capacity of 12 million tons, three times that of Memphis International Airport, currently the world’s largest cargo hub, and a passenger capacity between 120 million and 150 million per annum - nearly 65% more than Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, currently the world's busiest passenger airport.

For further information on prices, destinations or to book your ticket using Emirates visit their website on http://www.emirates.com

Their website is very user friendly and easy to understand and navigate

Virgin Atlantic

2009-06-02T11:19:58Z

Virgin Atlantic – mainly for travellers living in Britain

When mentioning this Airlines – one must mention the founder and energy behind the company, Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950), an English entrepreneur best known for his Virgin brand of over 360 companies – his 1^st was formed at the age of 16.

In the 1980s he set up Virgin Atlantic Airways and has been very competitive flying out of Great Britain to various continents.

Sir Richard has always tried to keep a clear vision on quality, value and most importantly customer service for his travelers. The latter – most airlines are beginning to forget the value of.

I have travelled with Virgin on a number of occasions and have yet to be disappointed.

This airways is best suited for the British traveler flying out of the UK – or mainly London.

To date – Virgin flies into Cape town, Durban, Johannesburg, Lagos, Dubai and Nairobi. Dubai International Airport ( http://www.dubaiairport.com ) provides the traveler with a number of options to change airline and destination to other cities in Africa.

For more information on flights, destinations and to book your ticket with Virgin visit their website on http://www.virgin-atlantic.com

Skyteam - Group of Airlines

2009-06-02T10:41:06Z

The Skyteam – National Airlines working together

The second question that most 1^st time travellers need answered when travelling to Africa is – How do I get there?

The 1^st is which country to visit…?

Perhaps the most “united commercial transport team” that I could find doing my searches for fellow Bushdrummers is The Skyteam – for further information visit - http://www.skyteam.com

This is a group of National Airlines that work together sharing commercial flight paths from one continent to the other or from one country to the other where they try and not overlap flight routes allowing them to increase destinations and share commercial benefits.

From personal experience, they also help each other when a flight is cancelled or delayed. In other words - for example, when flying from Rome (Italy) to San Francisco (USA) using Alitalia via New York, you will most likely have to change plane and airline at New York from Alitalia to Delta Airlines to continue your journey.

Delta Airlines flying to Kenya

2009-06-01T16:42:22Z

Coastweek.com -- Delta airline's maiden flight is using
a Boeing 757-300ER, with a 221 seats capacity.
DELTA AIRLINES WILL EVENTUALLY FLY OVER 800
TRAVELLERS A WEEK FROM ATLANTA TO NAIROBI

Coastweek -- Kenya 's tourism industry will celebrate the inaugural Delta Airlines Nairobi-Atlanta flight, which is scheduled to arrive at Nairobi 's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport around 4.30 p.m., next Wednesday, June 03, 2009.

Delta airline's maiden flight is using a Boeing 757-300ER, with a 221 seats capacity, and will eventually be flying over 800 travellers per week from Atlanta to Nairobi.

There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony at the airport to officially launch direct flights from Nairobi to Atlanta .

The ceremony will be graced by Prime Minister Hon. Raila Odinga, Tourism Minister Hon. Najib Balala, United States of America Ambassador to Kenya H.E Michael Rannenberger, and Delta Air Lines Europe, Middle East and Africa Vice President Frank Jahangir.

In addition, Transport Minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere, Kenya 's Ambassador to the U.S Peter Ogego and former Atlanta Mayor Ambassador Andrew Young will be on board the flight.

American travellers to Kenya will now fly to Nairobi without the hassle of going through the European capitals where it takes over 30 hours and has remained a major deterrent for tourism from the US.

With the direct flight from Atlanta , this will be reduced to only 12 hours.

Earlier this year Minister Balala and the management of Delta Airlines, one of the biggest airlines in USA , reached a partnership to promote Kenya tourism in America ahead of the inaugural flight.

According to the Senior Marketing and Communication Manager of the airline Ms. Jeanne Wilson who met with the Minister at the airline's headquarters in Atlanta , Delta has the largest frequent flier database in the world that could be reached through its well-established marketing channels.

The Minister observed that the Delta Airline flights will be a big boost to the tourism sector in Kenya which is yet to attain full recovery from the effect of last years post election crisis.

"The direct air connection between the US and Nairobi and the election of President Barrack Obama is the best opportunity we have ever had to reach the huge potential of the American tourism market", said the Minister.

During his Atlanta visit the Minister also discussed with the president of Legacy Entertainment in Hollywood , Los Angeles Mr. Steven Moore plans to organize trips for US celebrities to come to Kenya for photo shoots.

Further Director of External Affairs and Community Relations, Ms. Scarlet Pressley-Brown said she will organize the travel of Ron Clark Academy students to Nairobi aboard the inaugural flight.

These are students who made performances during the Obama campaign and will provide mileage in promotion of the Delta Airlines flight as well as Kenya as a destination.

The Minister also met with the Kenya Diaspora in Atlanta , who welcomed the move by the Delta Airlines to introduce a direct flight to Nairobi as this will reduce the cost and time of travel to home.

The United States is now the second largest source market for tourist arrivals into Kenya registering 100,516 arrivals in 2007 after UK which recorded 203,494 visitors.

Delta Airlines – USA to Africa

2009-06-02T09:58:58Z

Delta Airlines – USA to Africa

For the American traveller to Africa, Delta (part of Skyteam - http://www.skyteam.com/) has various options from the Unites States to cities in Africa. Most recent is the new flight path to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi.

What may add the extra couple of hours to the flight for most US travellers as noted by one of our Bushdrummers is that Delta operates out of Atlanta, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Therefore you will most likely have to change over from National to International flights in Atlanta.

You may find connections with Delta or to Atlanta using Northwest as both airlines have merged.

For information on Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport visit their website on http://www.atlanta-airport.com/

For further information on prices, destinations or to book your ticket using Delta Airlines visit their website on http://www.delta.com/