divine54

in preparation of the 2009 starting flights between america and kenya delta as opened its office in nairobi!

delta and keynya airways are most probably to cooperate.

tourism and trade are going to profit from the new connection(s) as this makes the routing via europe avaoidable!

div

noelm98

does anyone have any idea as to when delta is going to begin flying to nairobi? First, it was supposed to be the summer of '08, then it got pushed back to Dec. '08---now the flights are pushed back to 2009

sandi

I'd like to have confirmed out of which US hub city? Heard ATL, then MIA, maybe one of the mid-west cities? Anyone?

sandi

... whether Delta office in NBO or not, I doubt flights will commence before the new JKIA airport is complete. Work is in progress, but when is anyone's guess!

divine54

- exact date: NO IDEA
- ports of call: NO IDEA

i posted what i got!

later this year delta should know......maybe ;-)

div

aowens

according to the email sent by Delta to Delta employees about two weeks ago, service will start next summer, date not announced and will be out of JFK. My sister is a flight attendant for Delta. Not to say things can't change!!

sandi

If JFK, they've got me.

For those from the Mid-west or West it could make sense to fly to JFK, then straight on to NBO. For those already on the East coast if they had to fly to ATL or MIA, they might as well just fly thru Europe.

But, that's my personal opinion and experience... if there are delays, it's the domestic flights more often impacted than the international ones.

noelm98

aowens---thanks for the inside information. Unfortunately, I am planning to go to Kenya next August and can't bank on Delta (I have FF miles with them) flying to NBO at that time. Guess I will have to use KLM and suffer through a long layover at Amsterdam.

Irongirl

We are planning a trip for next July. I guess I won't hold my breath waiting to book with Delta either. We decided to fly into Nairobi on American/BA because we saved $900 per person verses flying KLM into JRO.

aowens

OK - here's what you need to do. It worked beautifully for us this year. (This of course was when they first announced the NBO flight for 6/1/08 - they later canceled that beginning and we all had to change to AMS-NBO, but that was ok - since we already had the skysaver awards we kept them)

If you have Delta miles - go ahead and book something as best you can so you don't get totally left out! (we booked 5 sky-choice coach seats: (2) ATL - AMS because the AMS-NBO on KLM leg wasn't open yet and (1) ATL-DXB-NBO with long layover in DXB and(2) ATL-CDG-DXB-NBO) Then I waited. As soon as Delta announced the flights to NBO I called and got all of the tickets moved over to the NBO flights and had enough miles to get 3 skysaver business and 2 skysaver coach. You just have to keep checking (and this board stays pretty up to date.) Also - keep checking the Delta website and try to book JFK-NBO on your dates. As soon as the one-stop shows up in the system you can book it. When I called to change over even the reservation agents didn't know about the flight yet. We did have to pay the change fee but that was no big deal! I know this is kind of jumbled and if it doesn't make sense let me know and I will try to explain further.

ShayTay

Last year, I booked a FF ticket with Delta to Nairobi for this September. I only found out on this Board that they had decided not to fly to NBO after all. By that time, it was too late to book a regular FF ticket on another airline without using up a lot more miles for a lesser ticket (economy vs the business class ticket I had booked.) When I called Delta in the Spring to get my miles back and to ask why they had not contacted me, their response was "The reservation is for September; what's the rush?" It seems that if they issue a ticket, the least they could have done was to contact me when that route was no longer available.

Patty

The on again, off again, on again NBO service is supposed to start June 3, 2009 and route ATL-DKR-NBO 4x weekly according to this article http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?ID=53763

It doesn't appear to be loaded into the DL system yet.

ShayTay,
Delta won't contact you about schedule changes/cancellations until closer to departure. You just have to keep an eye on things yourself. That said, they would've reaccommodated you on KL or KQ had you still wanted to go to NBO.

Patty

Oops, it's June 2, 2009. Just saw the official announcement http://news.delta.com/article_displa...ticle_id=11185

Also ATL-JNB will go nonstop and JFK-DKR-CPT 4x weekly will be replaced by ATL-DKR-CPT 3x weekly starting June 1, 2009.

thit_cho

Patty, do you know if DL will permit a stopover in Cape Verde? For the destinations that have more than one weekly flight, a stopover would permit a short visit to Cape Verde and another African country.

I am currently researching Sri Lanka/Maldives for December 2009, but these new destinations may throw a wrinkle into my planning (although I am still leaning to Sri Lanka).

thit_cho

Africa: Delta will expand its industry-leading position in Africa with new flights between Atlanta and Nairobi, Kenya1 and Cape Town, South Africa1,5 (via Dakar, Senegal); between Atlanta and Monrovia, Liberia1; Abuja, Nigeria1; Luanda, Angola1; and Malabo, Equatorial Guinea1 (all via Sal Island, Cape Verde); and between New York-JFK and Lagos, Nigeria1. Delta also will introduce its first daily nonstop service to South Africa with flights between Atlanta and Johannesburg1,2.

Patty

Good question, Michael. It's not clear to me whether they'll carry traffic to SID (like DKR) or it's just going to be a technical stop.

ShayTay

Patty, the agent at Delta I called said they couldn't do anything for me with regard to booking with their partners, as all their FF seats were filled. I suppose I should have pushed them on that issue and, if it happens again, I'll do so.

I'm glad that I saw a post here on Fodor's that noted the cancellation of Delta's service to NBO; I was at least able to get another seat, albeit with more miles.

thit_cho

I don't know if this will be helpful or interesting to anyone, but this Summer I booked a trip, using 80,000 Delta SkyMiles, into Lagos, Nigeria and back from Douala, Cameroon, transiting CDG on both legs.

Now that Delta has added a direct, non-stop from JFK to Lagos, they allowed me to switch to the direct fee (no charge since I'm Platinum on Delta) and also credited me $120 (the difference in tax -- Delta recently eliminated its fuel surcharge).

Patty

Looks like award inventory has been loaded for ATL-DKR-NBO. I already ticketed LAX-ATL-AMS-NBO last week and will probably just keep what I've got since LAX-ATL-DKR-NBO isn't that different in terms of total travel time.

I'm also able to price ATL-SID as a paid fare and it shows up in an award search.