PRESS RELEASE
Alitalia and Kenya Airways start a commercial partnership. The inaugural Rome - Nairobi flight launched today.
Rome, 16 December 2010 - The opening ceremony of the new Rome - Nairobi flight was held this morning at Rome Fiumicino airport; the flight operated by Kenya Airways in cooperation with Alitalia is the only direct link between the capitals of both countries.
The inauguration was attended by the Kenya Tourism Minister, Hon. Najib Balala EGH MP, the Kenyan Ambassador in Italy H. E. Josephine W. Gaita, the Vice Managing Director for countries in sub-Saharan Africa Min. Plen. Rosa Anna Coniglio, the Managing Director of Kenya Tourist Board Muriithi Robert Ndegwa, the Chief Operating Officer of Kenya Airways Bram Stellar, the Executive Vice President Communication and External Relations of Alitalia Clemente Senni and the Director Aviation Marketing of Aeroporti di Roma Sergio Berlenghi.
The new Rome - Nairobi flight is scheduled to operate three times a week on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays: departure from Rome Fiumicino Airport is scheduled at 10:25 with arrival in Nairobi at 19:05 (local time). From Nairobi, the plane takes off at 00:55 (local time) to land at Rome Fiumicino airport at 06.30.
The new Rome - Nairobi flight marks the start of the commercial co-operation between Alitalia and Kenya Airways, which will see the introduction of code-sharing flights on some routes operated by the two carriers.
The agreement between Alitalia and Kenya Airways is also extended to ticket sales activities: Alitalia, through its own sales network, will be the general representative of Kenya Airways for the Italian market and Kenya Airways will represent Alitalia in Kenya and in some Eastern African countries (Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Mozambique).
With this agreement, Alitalia has extended its offer to Kenya by applying the flight code “AZ” on flights operated by Kenya Airways from Rome to Nairobi and on services from Nairobi to Mombasa (and viceversa) connecting with the flight from Rome.
From Nairobi it will also be possible to reach other destinations served by the Kenyan company (Malindi, Johannesburg, Addis Ababa, Entebbe, Bujumbura, Kigali and Lusaka) thanks to an interline agreement between the two companies.
In return, Kenya Airways will apply its “KQ” flight code to Alitalia flights from Rome to Milan Malpensa (and viceversa) connecting with the service between Nairobi and Rome.
The schedule of flights between Nairobi and Rome Fiumicino also offers passengers convenient connections with the network of domestic, international and intercontinental served by Alitalia from Rome.
To celebrate the launch of the new Rome - Nairobi flight, Alitalia and Kenya Airways offer a promotional rate from 539 € (taxes and surcharges included). Tickets at this special rate can be bought until 4th January 2011 to travel until 31st March 2011.
Alitalia and Kenya Airways, SkyTeam alliance members, have already launched a broad cooperation with regard to Frequent Flyer programs and ground services. Through this agreement, in addition to greater availability of flights between Italy and Kenya, passengers will also enjoy the opportunity to earn miles for their loyalty programs on codeshare flights.
Marco Sansavini, EVP Sales, Distribution and Customer Care of Alitalia stated: “We are very pleased with this agreement that adds Kenya, one of the most popular tourist destinations for Italians, at Alitalia’s offer and strengthens the role of the Company in the development of traffic flows between Europe and Africa. Alitalia continues its strategy of developing commercial agreements with major international companies, with the aim to offer to its customers an increasingly larger number of destinations, routes and frequencies”.
Bram Stellar, Chief Operating Officer of Kenya Airways stated: “We are glad that the Italian aviation authorities granted us the rights to land at the Rome Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino Airport from today. This flights coincides with the resumption of fights to Malindi from yesterday. The Nairobi-Malindi- Nairobi schedule had been established to ensure immediate connectivity for passengers from Malindi to Rome. Rome will also be key in the airline’s provision of flights to destinations connecting to south Europe. Rome will operate 3 times a week on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays while the Malindi will be operated 6 times a week”.
Alitalia Alitalia - Compagnia Aerea Italiana (www.alitalia.com) flies to 79 destinations, 26 in Italy and 53 in 37 other countries worldwide, with about 4,500 flights a week (Winter 2010/2011) and a fleet of 147 aircraft. In 2010 six carriers have entered into commercial partnerships with Alitalia, which now has codeshare agreements with 29 airlines to fly to over 200 destinations worldwide.
Kenya Airways Kenya Airways is the national flag carrier for Kenya and operates out of the capital city Nairobi which has grown to be the aviation hub for East, Central, Western and Southern Africa. Over the years, Kenya Airways has grown to be the hub airline for the region, transporting passengers and cargo to destinations worldwide, 44 of which are in Africa.
For press information:
Alitalia Kenya Airways Paolo Di Prima Chris Karanja Tel. +39-06-65638950 Tel. +254-20-622290 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]