Kenya Airways, the flagship carrier of Kenya, was crowned “Africa’s Leading Airline – Economy Class” on Sunday night at the prestigious World Travel Awards 2023 ceremony in Dubai.
The award marks the fifth time Kenya Airways has taken home the top honor for economy class service, cementing its reputation for providing an outstanding inflight experience to budget-conscious travelers.
Kenya Airways also nabbed “Africa’s Leading Inflight Magazine” for the second consecutive year for Msafiri, its complimentary onboard publication offered to all passengers.
“We are tremendously proud to be recognized as Africa’s best by the World Travel Awards for the fifth time,” said Allan Kilavuka, Group CEO of Kenya Airways. “This award is the result of our passionate commitment to put the customer first, while continuously improving our product and service.”
According to Kilavuka, Kenya Airways has implemented numerous enhancements to its economy class service over the past year that helped secure its repeat victory. These include introducing tray meal service to replace boxed meals, adding an extra starter dish and yogurt to breakfast services on longer flights, and installing more spacious ergonomic seats with adjustable headrests.
The World Travel Awards, now in their 30th year, recognize excellence across Africa’s vibrant and fast-growing travel and tourism industry. More than 500 guests including industry VIPs gathered at the new Atlantis Royal hotel in Dubai for a glittering black-tie gala ceremony to find out this year’s winners.
“Our winners represent the very best that African hospitality has to offer,” said Graham Cooke, founder of the World Travel Awards. “My congratulations to Kenya Airways for raising the bar ever higher.”
In addition to the airline prizes, Kenya Airways’ home country of Kenya took top honors as “Africa’s Leading Destination.” Regional rival Ethiopian Airlines was named “Africa’s Leading Airline,” having clinched the first class and business class titles, while Air Mauritius picked up “Indian Ocean’s Leading Airline.”
On the hospitality front, Cape Town earned “Africa’s Leading City Destination” and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania was voted “Africa’s Leading Tourist Attraction.” In the Indian Ocean, the Maldives archipelago bagged “Indian Ocean’s Leading Destination” and Seychelles won for “Indian Ocean’s Leading Honeymoon Destination.”
Kenya Airways said it plans to continue elevating its service with lie-flat beds in business class, inflight Wi-Fi across its fleet, and other product enhancements in the pipeline.
“We thank our customers for consistently voting for Kenya Airways over the years,” said Kilavuka. “It inspires us to set our sights even higher.”
