Kenya Airways said on Wednesday it expected to take delivery of a third Embraer 170 Long Range plane in August to boost its expansion into African routes.
The new Embraer is the first of four aircraft the carrier expects this year.
The others are three previously announced new 737-800s from Boeing, the first of which is also due in August, the airline said in a statement.
"Our 3rd Embraer 170 LR aircraft is in production at Embraer's main facility in San Jose dos Campos, Brazil. It is scheduled to arrive in Nairobi during the first week of August," said Kenya Airways chief executive Titus Naikuni.
The 72-seater jet will ply domestic and regional routes in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Zambia, which are key sources of business for the airline.
In April, Kenya Airways announced that it would launch new routes and increase services on others.
One of Africa's leading carriers, Kenya Airways is recovering from the loss of a Boeing 737-800, which crashed in Cameroon last year.
It was also hit hard by post-election violence in Kenya earlier this year, which damaged the tourism sector.
Kenya Airways' 2007/08 annual profit after tax fell to KES3.9 billion Kenya shillings (USD$57.65 million) from KES4.1 billion, due mainly to the impact of the post-election crisis when it was forced to cancel some flights.
The statement said Embraers were suited for the regional routes because of their short ground turnaround time, common parts, low maintenance costs and fuel efficiency.
The airline, which is 26 percent owned by Air France-KLM, currently flies to 43 destinations in 39 countries.
(Reuters)
Source: http://news.airwise.com/story/view/1216243764.html