On Thursday 11 April 2013, Kenya Airways received its first fully-owned cargo aircraft to tap into the growing cargo freighting business in Africa. The new freighter jet, a Boeing B737-300, has a cargo capacity of 20 metric tons. It is the first of four passenger aircraft owned by the airline which were identified for conversion into freighters in October 2012 to strengthen its cargo business.

The converted freighter will serve Eastern, Central and Southern Africa with planned destinations including Juba, Luanda, Bangui, Douala, Yaoundé, Kigali, Entebbe, Dar-es-Salaam, Kinshasa and Bujumbura, amongst others. The introduction of the new freighter jet is set to boost the airline's cargo business as it seeks to contain the surge in demand for cargo services in some of the regional routes where it operates the much smaller Embraer jets that have limited cargo capacity.

"We are excited to take delivery of this newly converted freighter jet, which will be a perfect addition to our fleet. This aircraft will go a long way in enabling us to grow our cargo business segment across regional routes as well as increase revenue from cargo services which will be a significant contribution to our bottom-line," said Kenya Airways Group Managing Director and CEO, Dr. Titus Naikuni.

Under its 10-year growth strategy, Kenya Airways plans to have 12 freighters in its fleet by 2022. The converted freighter is also expected to further present added value through channelling of cargo flows from China to various African destinations.

About Kenya Airways

Kenya Airways, a member of the Sky Team Alliance, is a leading African airline flying to over 59 destinations worldwide, 48 of which are in Africa and carries over three million passengers annually. It continues to modernize its fleet with its 41 aircraft fleet being one of the most modern in Africa. The on-board service is renowned and the lie-flat business class seat on the wide-body aircraft is consistently voted among the world's top 10. In 2010, it scooped top awards at the Africa Investor (Ai) Tourism Investor Awards and was declared the Business Airline of the Year in Africa. Kenya Airways takes pride for being in the fore front of connecting Africa to the world and the World to Africa through its hub Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

Kenya Airways has been operational since 1977

They carry three million passengers annually

Kenya Airways is a major employer with a workforce of over 4,200 employees

A new B737-800 flight simulator has been installed, supporting KQ's pilot training program

2005: KQ became the first airline in sub-Saharan Africa to achieve IOSA (IATA Operational Safety Audit), a rigorous safety certification.

1999/2000: KQ was awarded 'African Airline of the Year'

For more information, please visit www.kenya-airways.com