Kenya Airways has increased the number of flights to Kisumu this weekend to cater for the high number of passengers traveling to the lakeside city for the funeral of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
In a statement released on Friday, October 17, the national carrier said the decision followed an unusual spike in demand as Kenyans made plans to travel home for the final send-off of the veteran opposition leader.
“We’ve increased our flight frequency to Kisumu over the weekend to accommodate the high travel demand,” read part of the statement.
Raila, who passed away on October 15, will be laid to rest on Sunday at his Kang’o Ka Jaramogi family residence in Bondo.
The body will first lie in state at the Jomo Kenyatta Stadium in Mamboleo, Kisumu, on Saturday for members of the public to view it before it is moved to his Opoda Farm residence for an overnight vigil.
In a bid to ease the congestion, Kenya Airways has increased flights and also replaced some of its aircraft on the Nairobi–Kisumu route.
The airline has added two more flights on Friday KQ656 departing at 1:30 p.m. and KQ658 at 7 p.m.
On Saturday, October 18, flight KQ650 (6:50 a.m.) and KQ654 (8:05 a.m.) will be on larger Boeing 737 aircraft. The same adjustments will be awarded to flights KQ654 (8:05 a.m.) and KQ671 (7 p.m.) on Sunday, and again on Monday, October 20.
Kenya Airways stated that it has made the adjustments so that guests can travel to Kisumu without interruption during the mourning period.
We remain committed to offering stress-free travel to all our passengers,” the airline added.
Most flights on the route were already fully booked by Friday afternoon, a reflection of the huge number of mourners headed to Nyanza to bid farewell to one of Kenya’s most influential political leaders.
