Kenya Airways expands Asia codeshare deal with Vietnam Airlines

Kenya Airways has expanded its four-year-old codeshare agreement with Vietnam Airlines (VA) to include Kuala Lumpur as the national carrier seeks to grow its business in Asia.

KQ, as the airline is known by its international code, will now book clients in Kenya and fly them and seamlessly to Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia's main airport.

Code-sharing agreement allow airlines to sell seats on their aircraft (marketing carrier) as if they were their own and passengers are later transferred onto a different aircraft (operating carrier) where the former lacks physical presence.

"The expansion of our codeshare with Vietnam Airlines is in line with our ongoing efforts to expand our network reach and to offer our customers reliable, convenient and more travel options," said Kenya Airways chief executive Mbuvi Ngunze.

Kenya Airways and Vietnam Airlines have since August 2012 been partnering on the Bangkok (Thailand) to the Vietnamese cities of Hanoi and Saigon as well as between Hanoi and Kuala Lumpur. The Nairobi to Hanoi codeshare agreement was introduced in 2015.

To get to Kuala Lumpur prior to signing of the codeshare agreement, passengers from Kenya would have to book different flight — either through KQ's or Vietnam Airlines partners, a system which is not seamless.

Vietnam Airlines will place its codeshare two flights on the KQ flights operating on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

On the Hanoi — Kuala Lumpur route, KQ will place its codeshare two flights on Vietnam Airlines flights enabling connectivity to KUL three times a week on the Nairobi – Hanoi direct flights.

The expanded agreement is expected to augment the operation of Kenya Airways flight to Guangzhou via Hanoi and will target traders that mostly originate from the region.

Source: Kenya Airways expands Asia codeshare deal with Vietnam Airlines