Kenya Airways, Delta Airlines expand codeshare partnership

Kenya Airways (KQ) and Delta Airlines have expanded their codeshare agreement, allowing customers of the pair more travel options within Africa and the United States.

The partnership which now includes KQ's Nairobi-New York service took effect on Saturday. A codeshare is an agreement in which cooperating carriers publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number as part of their published timetable or schedule.

The expanded KQ-Delta partnership will allow customers additional travel options to over 31 destinations in Africa and 57 cities across the United States and Canada.

In 2020, an initial expansion of the codeshare partnership between the two airlines saw travellers on direct flights linked to three points that included the cities of Dallas, Washington DC and San Francisco.

Apart from enjoying the benefit of having the most direct route and wider connectivity options between flights operated by the two airlines, frequent flyer customers of KQ’s Asante Rewards or Delta's SkyMiles programme will also earn miles on the services.

KQ Chief Executive Allan Kilavuka termed the expansion of the partnership as significant as it is poised to enhance connectivity between the US and Africa as well as offer the national carrier's product directly through its American partner, sentiments that were echoed by Delta’s President International Alain Bellemare.