Kenya Airways (KQ) has nearly doubled air ticket prices for repatriating Kenyans stranded in Britain who will Friday pay £771 to fly back to Nairobi from London.
The Kenyan national carrier on May 4, flew in Kenyans stranded Britain for a £430 from London to Nairobi- making it the costliest chartered services of all the repatriation missions that KQ has offered to Kenyans who look to return in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak and which has seen most airlines ground planes as governments imposes movement restrictions.
Passengers from Mumbai and Guangzhou paid $430 and $750 for one-way tickets a week ago respectively.
The airline posits that there is a difference in price and this is because the flight on May 4 was ferrying cargo to and from the United Kingdom. It was therefore, possible to balance out the operating costs between cargo and passenger services.
KQ has been surviving on cargo and chartered services following the grounding of passenger services after the State suspended all cross-border passenger flights on March 22.
On April 6, the Kenyan government also barred movement into and out of four counties including Nairobi, Mombasa, Kwale and Kilifi, forcing KQ to ground flights and hinge its survival solely on cargo business.
Chartered flights, scheduled to arrive at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Friday, will, however, be available only for Kenyans who test negative for Covid-19.
The cost of the tests for Covid-19 will be met by the passengers.