Emirates Airline’s plans to operate a third daily rotation between its Dubai base and the Kenyan capital Nairobi have been suspended after the Kenyan authorities declined to approve the additional service. The airline described the move as “surprising.” Emirates had been planning to use a Boeing 777-300ER on the route in a 3-class, 354-seat layout. When announcing plans for the new service Jan 19, the carrier said it “underscores Emirates’ commitment to Kenya and confidence in the route, which has grown to become one of the airline’s busiest routes in Africa”. However, the latest service was blocked. According to Kenyan media reports, the country is seeking a review of the bilateral air service agreement between the two countries to better balance the share of services operated by Emirates and Kenya Airways. <br/>
unaligned
Kuwaiti hybrid carrier Jazeera Airways has named Rohit Ramachandran as its new CE, after an extended period when the carrier was without a full-time CE. Since previous CE Stefan Pichler left the post in Aug 2013, it has been filled on an acting basis by Jazeera Airways Group chairman Marwan Boodai. Ramachandran, who has most recently worked at Air Arabia and its subsidiaries and joint ventures, where he was responsible for the commercial organisation, takes up his new role immediately. His previous job history has included posts at SIA and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. “As CE, Ramachandran will be aiding the board with the development of the airline’s strategy and working with the management team on implementation,” Boodai said. “ <br/>
Flybe grew its passenger revenue by 13.5% in Q3 as it added aircraft and seat capacity. Q3 pax revenue of GBP146.3m was up from the previous year’s GBP128.9m. Total revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% at GBP160.8m. During the quarter Flybe added 4 Bombardier Q400 aircraft to its fleet, which contributed to a seat capacity increase of 12.7%. That was a slight reduction from the 13.5% increase seen during the first half. Total passenger numbers rose 9.9% to 2.1m, but the number of seats offered was up 12.7% at 3.1m, leading to a drop in load factor of 1.7 percentage points to 67.2%. Flybe said it will continue adding capacity in Q4 with new routes between Edinburgh, Aberdeen and London Heathrow from March 26. The carrier noted a slow start to Q4, with uncertain customer confidence and poor weather contributing. <br/>