Flight to Kilimanjaro: should go through Kenya Airport?
 

We will be taking a trip to hike Kilimanjaro and we have checked on flight costs. The cheaper way to fly is via London and Kenya Air to Nairobi and then Kili airport.

The alternative is to go to Amsterdam and then direclty to Kili via KLM.

We have heard that baggage often has problems at Nairobi and it would be safer to take the KLM direct route rather than go through Kenya.

However, the difference in costs is significant so we would like some feedback on whether others have experienced problems in flying through Nairobi.

Thanks for the help.

Bruce Rocheleau [email protected]

<b>safer to take the KLM direct route rather than go through Kenya. </b>

I don't know how many bags are lost in Nairobi, but the KLM flight isn't a sure thing either, especially if coming from the US with a tight connection. On our first trip to Kili airport 2 of 13 people didn't get their bags until several days later, and on two subsequent trips I've seen several people filling out claims upon arrival.

The problem is if you're on an overnight flight from the US then it's somewhat tight to make the connection, especially if you are delayed a bit.

Good luck either way :)

Bill

The cost of the return flight NBO/JRO/NBO is close to $400.

What't the difference between the flight going into NBO and that into JRO. If the same or less, go via AMS.

I have taken the Air Kenya flight from Heathrow to Nairobi, then Precision to Kili. No problems at all, although others have reported differently with regard to baggage.

One major consideration from me is that when arriving in Kili on the Precision Air flight only a handful of people get off. It took me less than five minutes to arrange my visa and go through passport control / collect my baggage. (Four people left the plane, inclusive of my wife and I) My transport was waiting and we were away very quickly.

Now imagine the same scenario with the KLM flight where perhaps 150 people disembark at once. It will be chaotic.

Another positive with the Precision air flight is that is does a fly past of Kilimanjaro giving you an excellent view (sit on the left of the aircraft) of the summit.

My trip report of the climb including the flypast image of Kili and the Precision Air plane can be found here:

http://safaritalk.net/index.php?showtopic=38

Matt

I've also done the Kenya Airways trip LHR-NBO-JRO. My father lost his multi-tool from his bag, but he had it in an unsecured (i.e. unlocked) outside pocket of his duffel bag. NBO doesn't have the best reputation, but surprisingly, neither does AMS. So, in terms of baggage security, I don't know that one is better than the other.

The only advantage I can see of the AMS-JRO flight is that there are fewer stops, and it's therefore less likely to have connection problems.

Can you carry your luggage on? We carried on AMS-JRO and were just about the first ones through customs and in our safari vehicle. It was really fast. That said, we did acquire visas prior to departure. Maybe if you carry on you can go through Kenya and keep the cost down?