I put my name in the hat for the last minute upgrade and was pleased that it my offer was accepted .
check in at ORT was a breeze and the lounge used by KQ is fair and as I later found out on my return leg way better then the KQ lounge in Nairobi.
We were delayed by 20 minutes due to a technical fault with the luggage belts at ORT ( Not a KQ fault!)
But eventually left and service commenced.
Lunch was a rather simple affair and it is sad that the service has been downscaled that much with regards to the meal offering.
The crew was fine and fairly attentive throughout the flight. The 787-9 used was in a neat appearance and kept up well.

Inflight entertainment was pretty poor but for a 4 hour flight it did the trick.
Arrival in NBO was a night mare as premium passengers waited for nearly 50 minutes to get their luggage and only after Economy was offloaded, no apology from the airline and NO ground handling staff present at their own home terminal which was rather poor in my humble view.
However all in all I do enjoy KQ s ethereally try but wish they would polish off the service and on the ground experience a bit more and they be able to give both SAA and Ethiopian a run for their money.

Service could be better
Sadly they let business class board LAST
Price is great , that is all!
Else it is a struggle!

At first, i was a bit skeptical due to some negative reviews. However, my experience was fantastic. Everyone was super friendly and professional and the flight was very comfortable. Very decent food and the washrooms were quite clean.

I was scheduled to facilitate training for the World Bank in Zambia between January 25th 2020 and 29th. Whilst I was preparing to depart for Zambia I got an urgent request to facilitate another training for the UN IOM Kenya office that was scheduled to start on January 30th from 09.00hrs in Naivasha, which after consultation with my Team, I flatly declined. Then I decided to look for early flights from Lusaka to Nairobi and when I saw one scheduled to depart Lusalka at 02.10hrs to arrive in Nairobi shortly before 06.00hrs I decided to try it. When I floated the idea to my Team, they totally declined terming it suicidal, and they justified it with all sorts of scary stories about KQ being late, cancelling flights and not being reliable. Gosh! I was terrified and convinced that it was suicidal. I prayed over it and decided to take a major risk, which if backfired I was going to not only loose a major reputable client, but also loose my reputation and would even have to end up in Court for breach of contract. It was such a major risk, but I decided to take it anyway and put all my faith on Kenya Airways that I have been flying on for so so many years and had been lucky to have only experienced only two delays. On January 25th at 23:00hrs I took flight KQ 726 seating on my favorite seat 33A at the rear end of the cabin near the wash rooms I hate walking down the aisle from the front to the washrooms. KQ flight 726 departed on schedule with no delay and I took that as a good sign and a good start for by busy super tight itinerary. Got into Lusaka on schedule a night at The Taj Pamodzi departed for Lake Kariba Inns the following day facilitated my training, departed from Kariba on the afternoon of the 29th stayed at the Southern Sun Ridgeway left for the airport at midnight and my heart was beating so fast worrying that this was where it could go so badly wrong if Kenya Airways did not keep time. To my delight KQ 727 Nairobi bound was on time departing at precisely 02.10hrs and arriving in Nairobi almost 10mins earlier than scheduled. My driver to Naivasha was thrilled, and before traffic could build up along the busy Mombasa Road highway, we were on our way along the Southern bypass, arriving at the Great Rift in Naivasha at 08.33hrs. My clients found me completely rested and set for their training. Those among them who knew that I had traveled from Lusaka that same morning could not believe how relaxed I looked. Kudos! Kenya Airways you came through for me at such a critical moment. I chose to trust you literary with my life and you did not disappoint.

We travelled from Mumbai to Nairobi by KQ 205 on 23 Jan 2020 as part of 25 persons travelling together. Individual bookings were made by us. Apart from people having been in major positions in the Corporate world, we had a former Director from a major airline travelling with us.

The baggage for none of us arrived in Nairobi , we travelled to Amboseli the same day. The baggage next day(24 Jan 2020) was delivered in Nairobi in the office of our travel agent in the morning. Where we requested them to send it to Amboseli and paid for it.





The counter staff(girl) was of no help and categorically said that the airline had no system of compensating. They could only talk about any compensation after 24 hrs of delay. We arrived Nairobi on on the morning of 23 Jan 2020, with scheduled arrival time of 1020 hrs. We finally received the baggage in Amboseli at 1600 hrs on 24 Jan 2020, that also with our initiative. Inspite of our best efforts the Duty Manager was not contactable at the Airport and even later. Our numbers were taken and no one even contacted us. Our Office was in touch with Kenya Airways in Delhi, who were the only ones able to tell us about loading of the baggage in the next flight to Nairobi from Mumbai.



Although when we lodged a complaint regarding the delayed baggage, were told that same would be delivered to our hotel the next morning and would be sent by the early morning flight.

At no stage did we receive any compensation, apart from being put to inconvenience.



We were travelling in Kenya in different places and started back on 29 Jan 2020 by KQ 204 and reached Mumbai on 30 Jan 2020. The staff at the airport in Nairobi had no answers for the delayed baggage compensation.



On flight experience:-



My wife was given seat no 15B on the flight KQ 205 to Nairobi. The seat had no button and could not recline. She called the Air Hostess to tell her that it was uncomfortable, due to her back needed a reclining seat and in case another seat could be given, she came back to say that the flight was full and she would not be in a position to help. She requested for the Flight supervisor, who came, he should be really commended for his non friendly and unprofessional attitude. An experienced and mature man, who had answers to everything, how things could not be done. He was kind enough to give lectures on advantages of not using a reclining seat, a straight seat was good for the back. We had four super specialist Doctors travelling with us, since we were on Kenya Airways flight had to take his advise.She even requested him stating that we have 25 persons travelling on board booked by our company and were ready to pay for the seat in Business Class, since there were seats vacant in the Business Class. He had a prompt reply to say that there was no provision to help her, she could get down in Nairobi and write a mail to Kenya Airways , they would revert and help her out. So much for inflight service and conduct of flight supervisor.



It did not end there. Before boarding the return flight KQ 204 on 29 Jan 2019,told the customer relations at the Airport to check that the seat should be reclining or put a remark that the seat should be fine,since the seat number was the same as 15B. Usual answer to say that they had no system of doing that. This time the seat had the button, but could not be reclined. This apart there was a very inhuman experience, my wife suddenly fell sick and collapsed on the seat. I jumped out of my seat to take help of the Doctor friends sitting two seats away. I told the Air Hostess that the Doctor is going to attend to her she is not well. She was very curt to tell me that I was coming on her way for them to serve others, we had also not taken our meals. Imagine the plight of a sick passenger and the attitude of the crew, if we did not have Doctor friends travelling wth us. Doctors reacted fast and gave her medicine and she slowly started reviving. Meanwhile I called the flight supervisor , Mr Raymond, who at least understood and got the box of medicines and the Doctor was comfortable and said that necessary injections could be given if required, since these were available on board. The Air Hostess did come back and apologise, obviously from the inputs she must have received. Only thing I told her was that even today, I go out of the way to help any accident victim, even on the road. He should do the same on the flight,



I had to personally bear the brunt from everyone, since my company decided to take 25 persons on a tour of Kenya(4 in Business Class and 21 in Economy)and I decided to travel with them, something that I do not do. In this case all were friends and known to me.



I have personally flown enough and have been in the travel business for over 30 years, regrettably it was a nightmare to have taken these flights.



When I meet people anywhere I always tell people that have never had a bad experience and people have always been wonderful. I would not call this a bad experience, anywhere in the world or any airline, at least people are humane. It was totally amiss here.

Kenya is a wondeful country but would advise no one to fly Kenya Airways.

As advised by Kenya Airways office lodged an online complaint on 05/02/20, with a resolution date of 08/02/20 it 14/02/20 and still waiting to hear from them.