On November 19th, 2007, the Kenya Airways held its two-year anniversary for the launch of the Guangzhou route & the opening ceremony of its flagship store in Guangzhou. The relevant principal of the Kenya Airways said at the ceremony that beginning April next year, the non-stop flights from Africa to Guangzhou are expected to increase to daily flights.

Currently, it only takes 13 hours from Guangzhou to Africa by a non-stop flight. There are 4 flights each week flying to Dubai and Nairobi, the transit hub of Africa. The relevant principal of the Kenya Airways said the main reason to choose Guangzhou, and not Beijing or Shanghai, as its non-stop destination lies in the fact that Guangzhou has the most frequent economic and trade exchange with Africa. For example, many Africans come to Guangzhou during the China Import and Export Fair. Kenya Airways will continue as always to strive for opening more routes in Guangzhou. It will consider setting up non-stop destinations in other cities of China after it has achieved a daily flight to Guangzhou.

It was introduced that in the past two years, there were around 180,000 people traveling to Africa from Guangzhou by the flights of Kenya Airways, among which Chinese travelers accounted for 80,000 with a monthly increase rate of 160%. The relevant principal of the Kenya Airways said that it was negotiating with China Southern Airlines to let more visitors from Africa transit from Guangzhou to other places in China through its networks. The African audiences can arrive in Beijing for the Olympic Games using this way during the Olympic Games period next year, while the African delegations might fly directly to Beijing through the Kenya Airways.

Editor: Donald