Trip Report: Kenya Airways - Lagos to Dar Es Salaam, Kigali to Lagos via Nairobi
comment below and let me know your thoughts :)
Traveling around Africa generally can
cost a lot, both in time and money. The
ticket price will be high, the travel time long, be very expensive, and most
times you have to leave the continent to travel from one country to the
other. Luckily, there are African
companies that are making travel within Africa more affordable and convenient;
both Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways.
Both are the flag carriers of their respective countries, both seem to
have updated fleets, good schedules, and both seem reliable. I was looking to travel from Nigeria to
Tanzania, and return from Rwanda back to Nigeria and in looking at my options
both Ethiopian and Kenyan came up in the search. Both were competitive in price and both had
about the same overall travel time, but I choose Kenya Airways for a couple of
options: 1) I had flown Ethiopian on my way into Nigeria so wanted to try
another airline; 2) it had been about 4 years since I had flown Kenyan so
wanted to see what updates were available; 3) the departure timings for Kenyan
were better; and 4) Kenya had more options in terms of flight scheduling.
Booking travel with Kenya was very
easy through the website. The site was
easy to book and manage your reservation.
I had to make some modifications to my reservation and that could not be
accomplished online, so they either have a chat function available or a call
center; both of which were helpful.
Another good feature about Kenya is that they offer refunds on your
ticket – if your schedule changes and you need to cancel your ticket, you can
ask for a refund instead of travel credit.
The refund amount depends on your ticket and class of service, but
everything is available online and usually the refund is processed within 4-6
weeks. A great service from Kenya.
After booking my flight, I managed
my reservation through the Kenya Airways app.
Through the app and website I was able to preselect my seats for free,
request a special meal, and add my Skyteam frequent flyer number. I was also able to check-in and print my
boarding pass directly from the website 24-hours prior to my departure. My first flight was from Lagos to Dar Es
Salaam via Nairobi. The Lagos to Nairobi
sector was scheduled to depart Lagos at 10:45p and arrive into Nairobi at 6:05am,
and then I had 45 minutes to connect to my other flight which was scheduled to
depart Nairobi at 6:55am and arrive into Dar Es Salaam at 8:20am. This was a tight connection, but this is what
Kenya Airways provided me and everything was booked on one ticket so I went
ahead with it and hoped for the best.
The first flight was operated by a
Boeing 737-800 with a 3-3 seat configuration.
The aircraft operates the Nairobi to Lagos sector, and the same planes
brings passengers back to Nairobi. The
incoming aircraft arrived late, and the turnaround time was slow, thus boarding
began well past the 10pm which was listed on the boarding pass. Boarding was done by groups and the groups
were strictly enforced; this made for a lengthy and delayed boarding to an
already delayed flight. First
impressions upon entering the aircraft were good, as it looked like a new-ish
plane with updated seats and personal PTV for each seat. Each seat also contained a blanket, a pillow,
and headphones on them. The seat pitch
was decent, not too tight but not too generous either (I am 6’1 and while my
knees were not hitting the back seat, there wasn’t tons of room either) and the
seat comfort was also average (it was fine for a 3hr flight but there needed to
be more comfort for the longer flights).
Each seat contained a PTV with a USB port and headphone jack, a tray
table, and then a seatback pocket with the airline magazine, the duty free, and
an airsickness bag. The doors finally
closed, we pushed back for the gate, and headed to the runway for the 5hr 20mi
flight to Nairobi.
Kenya Airways is a full service
airline so complimentary meals and drinks are provided. Once we reached cruising altitude, the meal
and drink service commenced. The special
meals were delivered at the same time as the regular meal, and for the regular
meal there was an option between two choices.
I had ordered a special meal and while I appreciate being served a meal
(as these days meals are disappearing from economy), the quality of the meal
was not that good. It was a decent
quantity, not too much food but not too light either (perfect for a 4hr flight)
but the quality of the food definitely need to be improved. Complimentary soft drinks, tea, and coffee
were also provided. Once the meal
service ended, passengers sat back and watched their screens. The PTV screens were already on once you sat
down, so most passengers just watched the entertainment program the entire
flight. There was a decent selection of
TV shows and movies, again good enough for a 3-4 hour flight but you would get
bored on longer flights.
Even though we departed late, we
landed roughly on time and taxied to the gate.
There is a separate line for transferring passengers, but because Kenya
is starting new flights to the U.S. they have modified the transit so all
passengers must go through enhanced screening.
While I understand the security of this, it adds time to the transit
process and this needs to be factored into the connection time they provide to
customers. There was a HUGE line of
passengers in the transiting security line and it looked like I was going to
miss my connection when the airline itself started to call out passengers for
my flight. A representative was pulling
passengers and putting them ahead of the security line as I only had a total of
25 minutes to make my connection. Since
I was moved to the front, I went through security and ran to my gate in time to
make it to my flight.
The second flight was operated by
an Embraer 190 with a 2-2 seat configuration.
While the plane size was small, the seat pitch and comfort were nice and
each seat had its own PTV screen as well as USB port. The plane was only half full so the doors
closed and we pushed back for an on-time departure. Since there were not that many passengers, I
was able to move up and stretch out to a row unto myself. Even though the flight time was 1hr30min, a
light breakfast was served just after take-off.
The breakfast consisted of a fresh croissant which was nice, warm and
fresh. It was small but it was nice and that
is something I appreciated from Kenyan, especially on this short flight. Tea, coffee, and complimentary drinks were
also served with the meal. Once the meal
service end, most passengers either slept or watched the entertainment
system. The system was not as extensive
as the system of my Lagos to Nairobi flight, but there was a decent selection
of TV shows to pass the short flight time.
We soon landed in Dar Es Salaam and luckily my bags also made the tight
connection in Nairobi.
My return flight was scheduled
differently than my outbound flight. I
was returning from Kigali to Lagos via Nairobi, and I had scheduled a long
layover in Nairobi. My flight was
scheduled to depart Kigali at 8:30am and arrive into Nairobi 12:35pm, and I was
then going to connect to my flight departing Nairobi at 6:35p and arriving back
into Lagos at 9:50pm. The first flight
was operated by an Embraer 190 and has a stop in Bujumbura. The flight was supposed to board at 7:45am,
but that came and went without any announcements. Finally, the announcement was made and we
boarded the plane. This plane looked
similar to the plane that I had taken from Nairobi to Dar Es Salaam, with the same
legroom, the same individual PTV’s on each screen, and the same 2-2
configuration. The flight time from
Kigali to Bujumbura was only 45 minutes so most passengers past the time watching
their screens. The passengers on the
plane consisted of passengers flying from Nairobi to Bujumbura (who stopped in
Kigali); passengers flying from Kigali to Bujumbura; passengers flying from
Bujumbura to Nairobi; and passengers flying from Kigali to Nairobi (who stopped
in Bujumbura). We landed at Bujumbura,
where some passengers got off while others got on, and set off for
Nairobi. Since this was a longer flight,
at 1h55m, both a beverage service and a meal service were provided. The flight was uneventful and we landed in
Nairobi close to on-time.
After a scheduled delay, I fought
my way through Nairobi traffic to connect to my 6:35p flight to Lagos. Even though we had boarding groups assigned
to us, these were not enforced and everyone boarded as they pleased. The operating aircraft was a Boeing 737-800,
the same aircraft that brought me from Lagos to Nairobi. The layout was the same, the seat pitch and
seat comfort were the same, and again each seat had their own PTV screen. As this was my fourth flight with Kenyan in
the span of two weeks, I had basically exhausted the entertainment options by
this point. As the flight time was
5hr15m, after takeoff a meal and beverage service were provided. For the rest of the flight, the attendants
were not present at all until it was time to get the aircraft ready for
landing. They attendants did not come by
with water or to pass through the cabin to collect trash; the attendants just
sat in the back talking. After a bit of
a delay, we finally landed in Lagos a bit behind schedule.
Overall, it was a decent
experience with Kenya Airways. Since my
last experience with them, some aspects have improved while others have stayed
the same. They definitely have a better
on-board product versus what they previously had, and that makes for a better
inflight experience. The food quality
still is average, and the overall customer service still needs to be
improved. I had some great flight
attendants and great customer service, and I had some really apathetic
ones. I would not hesitate to fly them
again, but I would just keep my expectations manageable.
Just steps from the Fordhani Gardens, seaside,
and the Fort is a great boutique hotel - Maru Maru. The hotel is situated next
to Fordhani Gardens and the Fort and the hotel is centrally located to walk
anywhere around Stone Town from here. I
found the hotel through my search for places to stay in Zanzibar, and it was
very easy to book the hotel online.
After booking, I communicated with the general manager via email who was
very responsive and nice. I had also booked an airport transfer from hotel, and
the car was there when we landed. It was
a nice and smooth transfer to the hotel.
As I was traveling in a group, I had booked 2
rooms – and the rooms were available either had 2 twin or 1 Queen bed; I had
booked one of each. Both rooms were nice
and a good size, but the room with the 2 twin beds was a little bigger. The rooms were centered around an open
courtyard so it was nice to have an inside/outside feel. For the room with the Queen bed, as you
entered the room the bed was to the right while to the left was a chest with a
TV on top. There were nightstands on
either side of the bed and a mosquito net on top of the bed. Further into the room, you stepped up and on
the right was the bathroom while on the left was the armoire/closet. The bathroom was nice, modern and updated and
had nice toiletries that were made by a local women’s group. The room was nice but it was a bit compact so
while it easily fit two people, it felt cramped when more people were in the
room.
The room with the twin beds was laid out
differently and had significantly more space.
As you entered into the room, in front of you were the two twin beds,
with a nightstand on each side and each had a mosquito net. Against one wall was the armoire/closet,
while next to the door was the chest with the TV on top. Further along this wall was the entrance to
the bathroom, which contained a sink, a toilet, and a shower – all were modern
and nice, and again toiletries were made by a local women’s group. 
Overall, it was a nice stay at the Maru
Maru. The hotel is nice and modern, the
service is very good and attentive, and the location is very good. As I said, the hotel is located only a couple
of steps away from Fordhani Gardens and the only negative thing about the hotel
is the entrance/lobby. To get from the seaside/Fordhani Gardens to the hotel,
you have to walk up a road that a night is dimly light (during the day, this is
where all the taxis hang out so creates easier access to taxis). There are
plenty of people walking and we never had a security issue, but it is something
to consider. The lobby is right off the street so there is no major entrance nor
a big sitting area; not a big deal to me but some in my group cared about that. If you can overlook that, you can enjoy a
really nice boutique hotel in Zanzibar.
