Hamjambo, mabibi na mabwana!
Thanks for clicking and welcome to the 4th part of the African trip that covers the continental link between Africa's 15th and 3rd largest cities.
1/ MRS – AMS: Air France, AF1820, Economy: no report
2/ AMS – LHR : KLM, KL1021, EBC (C), B737-700, published here
3/ LHR – NBO : Kenya Airways, Premier World (J), B787-800, published here
4/ NBO – JNB : Kenya Airways, Premier World (J), B787-800, you are here
5/ JNB – NBO : Kenya Airways, Premier World (J), coming soon
6/ NBO – AMS: KLM, World Business Class (J), coming soon
7/ AMS – MRS: Air France, AF1807, Economy: no report
With most long haul flights arriving within half an hour's time, the security checks and screenings were crammed of Asian, European, American and African travelers. Removing the shoes is compulsory and KAA does not provide disposable plastic socks.
Used for disabled passengers too
T1A was inaugurated the 7th of July 2014 by President Uhuru Kenyatta, son of Jomo Kenyatta, even if it became officially operationnal to general public in August 2014!
KAA renamed each of the terminals to keep in line with international standards and expectations (T1A, 1B, 1C, 1D and since April 2015 domestic ops at new T2). These developments also finally separate passenger streams and prevent arriving and departing passengers meeting, other than through glass partitions, required by the American FAA for Cat 1 status, which will allow for direct flights between the US and Kenya. (DL to Atlanta most likely…)
Airy and luminous
In this brand new wing, KQ customers and Skyteam frequent flyers can unwind in one of the 2 lounges both located at the mezzanine - The Simba and, the nearest to gate 17 - The Pride Lounge!
I obviously opted for the latter much larger! To summarize its assets compared to its predecessors, one can find a 7 bed dorm (= rest area bloody cold due to the aircon), decent tarmac views (too bad for the tinted window panes) and a sort of high tech zone with Samsung Galaxy tablets!
Also, it looks like the hot drink machine is not automatic like one could expect, hence a lone robotic staff member must deal with all the customer requests which, 1) are plenty in the morning time for sure generating long queues/wait and, and 2) is ludicrous since as far as i know making expresso or most teas doesn't require high skills…(well that's the case with my Nespresso Coffee Maker at least lol)
Entrance
A nice touch of African opulence
At 8 am, i was one of the lasts to board along with a couple of Danes, slowed down by a computer issue.
5Y – KZF, 14 months old ( only the 2 first 787s got a name)
KQ operates 3 daily flights at 8:25 am, 12:05 pm and 9:45 pm, the morning service sees a widebody 788 while the followings are flown with 738 theorically offering a BSI cabin or a E190 with personal IFE. SAA provides 2 daily flights on A320, Ethiopian with 10 weekly services sends a 77W or the 738, like RwandAir for the single aisle aircraft.
The usual stuffs were handed out: PDB, a comprehensive amenity kit, newspapers/magazines.
Once the slides were armed and cross checked, load factor appeared light in Premier World, although in a 737/E190 cabin it would not have been so blatant. (btw i've included cabin shots from another JNB-NBO flight)
The amenity kit is provided on the morning flight only!
SA181 departed 20 minute before us due to the congestion, the second runway, part of the Greenfield project won't come too early.
Some old 772s are parked on the left
Breakfast meal followed quickly a hot oshibori, served in 3 steps by an energetic and charming crew. I was not in the mood to think hard, therefore i watched the comedy the Croods that helped to catch forty winks in this comfortable full flat seat.
2nd round: warm and flaky croissant (there are 2 types of bread roll to choose from also)
3rd round: Despite a low 11% of Muslim population in Kenya compared to Tanzania, no bacon/pork on KQ menus, very pity as this chicken sausage tasted horrible!
Lake Malawi, can you spot the competitor?
A common occurence with KQ: no self-service buffet in the galley
Lilongwe – capital city of Malawi – brought back good memories !
The state-of-the-art Bingu Stadium should have been handed over 2 weeks ago…
Runway seems in better shape than during my last flight in 2010
Landing on 3L at 11:30 ahead of schedule.
One of the many open-pit mines
I've missed that one last year: So fustrating to see it now!
Health officers collected the Ebola form before lining up at the Immigration lanes where a rather useless heat screening took place prior getting your stamp. The luggage got delivered in no time on the belt while my large box waited at the oversize/fragile bagage area!
Have you already got 3 or more stickers? :-D
Thanks for sharing this report with us. KQ seems to provide a very good service on board and most of the report I ahve read agree on the very good crew members.
Makes em want to try them once !
You're welcome, thanks for reading and commenting SkyteamCHC
Is the good service due to the constant decline of the loads? maybe or maybe not...
TBH with you, regarding KQ reviews my own opinion is often biased ;-) , however if one day you do fancy going to Seychelles, or to the white sandy beaches of Mozambique or to a safari in Africa you should give them a go!
Great report! T1A looked really nice, I've unfortunately only experienced the old terminal at NBO. The lounge and the 788 business cabin also looked quite sharp as well.
Yes very true and sorry for that!
There is a trick indeed, T1A new gates start from the number 15, KLM flight is often allocated at T1A yes but gates 7-10 ;-). And RwandAir operates from the former Unit 2 (= regional, gate 3-5).
Beautiful report. Some awesome aerials over Africa!
The new pride lounge looks very nice. catering onboard is underwhelming for this breakfast flight, but the seats seem very comfortable and roomy. Great fisheye cabin shots!
Nice shot of SA A320 over lake Malawi!
Where is that pic in Jo'burg CBD taken from? Did you stay in the CBD?
Thank you Kévin for reading and commenting!
It's taken from the Carlton Centre, and no for both stays a guest house near the airport appeared more convenient!
Thanks for sharing this FR! (I know I’m way late to the party)
From the pictures of seen in FRs, the Pride Lounge does look to have a nice local décor.
Fantastic shot of Uhuru Peak! Great air-to-air with SA too.
The breakfast looks very disappointing for J. The fruit looks like it came off a Y tray. The main also doesn’t look that enticing. At least KQ pre-pours the cereal and doesn’t give you a box of Kellogg’s like CX ;)
So honestly, I read the SA report first. I’d say that there is no comparison between this hard product and what SA offers on their A320s. The seats don’t offer an incredible amount of privacy, but with a light load like on this flight it's a non-issue. The catering on this flight wasn’t good, but if you already ate in the lounge, then who really cares. It sounds like KQ offers a great soft-product with friendly crews as well.
PS – I’m glad you took off your sandals before standing on the seats for that great aerial shot of the cabin :)
Thanks again for replying NGO85
(I know I’m way late to the party) => No worries ;-)
From the pictures of seen in FRs, the Pride Lounge does look to have a nice local décor. => Much better than before
At least KQ pre-pours the cereal and doesn’t give you a box of Kellogg’s like CX ;) => huh, CX? the well respected airlines does that? hard to believe... :-D
The catering on this flight wasn’t good, but if you already ate in the lounge, then who really cares. Exactly, and add to this, the eventual short/long haul brekkie for some passengers...