Kenya Airways, the Pride of Africa continued on its drive to grow and modernize its aircraft fleet size as it takes delivery of an additional Embraer airliner.

Designated as KYQ, the E-190 jet touched down at JKIA airport at 1835hrs on 01st June from the Embraer factory based in Brazil. It was received by Kenya Airways Technical Director, Tom Kadoyo.

The aircraft is expected into service within the next two weeks and will be deployed to operate to the Southern and Central Africa regions. Commencing just prior to the delivery of the aircraft, Kenya Airways Group Managing Director Dr. Titus Naikuni noted, “We are in the final stages of securing all the necessary regulatory approvals for the aircraft to start operating,” further noting that the aircraft will undergo some further customization by its engineers before eventually being commercially deployed.

The new long range plane joins the growing family of Embraer jets that Kenya Airways uses for its regional operations in Africa bringing the total number of the airline’s E-fleet to 7 jets. This is in line with the plans to build capacity that is more efficient for its Africa market which is the core focus for the Pride of Africa.

“With our route network expansion firmly on course, the addition of a new aircraft into the fleet is quite timely,” said Dr. Naikuni. He added that the increase in capacity had been necessitated by growing regional passenger and cargo demand and a rapidly expanding route network.

The second Embraer E190 arrival will be in fulfillment of an order that the Airline placed last year. The first jet was delivered in December 2010. Three more E190 jets will be delivered within the next one year.

The Embraer E190 is a Brazilian-built state of the art regional jet. The aircraft is configured as per Kenya Airways design and will carry just under 100 passengers in a superbly appointed cabin which features the latest in In-flight Entertainment system. It brings to Kenya Airways an even higher level of technological advancement, lower maintenance and operational costs.

Dr. Naikuni said “The combination of the E170 and E190 in our network will offer greater flexibility in right-sizing the aircraft to meet route demand, using the same crew and ensuring consistent, high comfort for our passengers”.