National carrier Kenya Airways (KQ) has secured three weekly landing slots at London’s Gatwick Airport as part of an expansion strategy for its most profitable international route.
Direct flights from Nairobi to Gatwick will operate on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, complementing the airline’s existing daily service to London Heathrow. The inaugural flight took place on July 2.
A landing slot is a specific time frame granted to an airline by an airport authority to land or take off. Slots primarily influence an airline’s revenue potential and competitiveness, especially at high-traffic airports where the capacity is limited.
Julius Thairu, KQ’s chief commercial and customer officer, said that the addition of the Gatwick route fits into the airline’s broader expansion goals.
“London remains one of our most profitable routes and a route that meets international needs. We fly seven times daily to Heathrow, and we’re almost full year-round. But Heathrow has limitations with landing slots, so we are not able to actually increase our frequencies,” said Mr Thairu.
He added that the London market alone contributes over 10 percent of the airline’s total turnover. The new second London gateway is expected to boost the turnover by adding 700 weekly seats to the UK market.
In 2016, KQ sold its 5.30 am Heathrow arrival slot to Oman Air for about Sh5.3 billion. The early morning slots tend to be valuable to airlines due to passenger demand, which can fall by up to 50 percent by evening, giving such time windows premium status among global carriers.
Heathrow now has one landing slot per day for KQ.
Breaking even
The Gatwick route is projected to break even within the first year, which is faster than other international routes such as New York JFK, which took around three years to become profitable, according to Mr Thairu.
The shift to Gatwick also comes against the backdrop of operational constraints at Heathrow, where the airline says obtaining additional landing rights has become costly.
“There are a few slots left [at Heathrow], but you have to cough out hundreds of millions of dollars to buy those slots and I don’t think that makes business sense,” Mr Thairu added.
Cargo efficiency
KQ Group CEO Allan Kilavuka said the new capacity will have immense flexibility for both leisure and business travellers, which will enhance their cargo and passenger efficiency.
“This gives our passengers choice and flexibility, whether they are travelling for business, or whether they are travelling for tourism, education, or connecting to friends and family in the UK,” said Mr Kilavuka.
He added that the route strengthens Kenya’s positioning as a regional aviation hub by improving the connectivity for travellers transiting through Nairobi from cities such as Kigali, Mombasa, Zanzibar and Johannesburg.
“This is not just a commercial venture. It positions Nairobi as a continental aviation hub of choice and also connects more people from around Africa through Nairobi to Gatwick and to the rest of the UK and Europe,” Mr Kilavuka said.
When it comes to the logistics the national carrier projects a 40 percent increase in vending capacity into the UK through Gatwick, citing the airport’s lower congestion levels as a competitive advantage.
“Gatwick is also renowned for cargo efficiency. It’s less congested, and therefore, even for travellers, it’s more convenient,” Mr Kilavuka added.
Passenger market
Mr Thairu further noted that about 70 percent of the passengers on the Gatwick route are leisure travellers and 30 percent travel for business. There is also a growing student market that is in focus.
Despite not operating out of Gatwick, Mr Thairu admits that British Airways is KQ’s main rival in the London market.
“They fly non-stop into Kenya, so they remain competitors, but they don’t fly to Gatwick. When I look at the other African carriers, they are still our competitors. However, the UK market demand is still strong. I don’t see any of the other carriers struggling,” he said.
The Gatwick service is currently operated using KQ’s long-haul night fleet, although the management says the airline is constrained by the increasing frequencies due to the limited aircraft availability.
The latest Annual Tourism Sector Performance Report 2024 by Kenya’s Tourism Research Institute shows that international arrivals rose to 2.394 million, with the UK being Kenya’s top five source markets. On trade, the UK–Kenya Trade and Investment released in June 2025 by the UK government shows that the total bilateral trade hit Sh318 billion (£1.8 billion) in 2024, with UK imports from Kenya growing by 8.1 percent.
