Starting this spring, residents of Minnesota will finally be able to catch the nonstop New York to Nairobi flight via Kenya Airways. Kenya Airways, which is the Kenyan National carrier, has signed an agreement with JetBlue which will connect passengers from Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport to New York. The agreement will increase the choice of destinations offered by Kenya Airways in Africa and extend Kenya Airways’ reach in the US, Caribbean, and Latin America via New York.
Kenya Airways launched its nonstop service from New York to Nairobi in the fall of 2018 but those in Minnesota, which comprises of a large Kenyan diaspora community, haven’t been able to enjoy the benefits of the service. The Kenya Airways flight from JFK departs daily at 1:45 PM making connections from Minneapolis/St. Paul tricky due to the three-hour window required for international flights.
The local businesses and the Kenyan community are hoping the easier connection via JetBlue will provide the much-needed convenience and will in turn create a surge of passengers on the KQ New York – Nairobi flight from passengers hoping to bypass the traditional Europe connection. The…