Fly 540 Africa

French national carrier Air France will resume flights between Paris and Nairobi from next March after an 18-year hiatus, signalling rising travel demand on routes connecting the Kenyan capital to global cities.

The return will bring to a close the airline’s reliance on code-shared flights with its partners for the Nairobi route. The French carrier previously served Nairobi until March 2000. From 25 March 2018, Boeing 787-9 aircraft will operate the Paric CDG to Nairobi route three times a week.

Air France is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and a founding member of the Skyteam global airline alliance.

Several major global airlines have been resuming flights into Kenya in recent years in a sign of increased passenger demand. They include German airline Lufthansa which two years ago resumed direct passenger flight service to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, ending 18 years of absence. India’s national carrier, Air India, has also announced plans to resume its flights to Nairobi later this year, seven years after it withdrew from the route.