Kenya Airways will become the first and only airline to link Vietnam directly to Africa with flights to Hanoi from 30 March 2015.

Kenya Airways will fly three times a week to Hanoi in a Boeing 787 Dreamliner and will provide strong connections to the key markets in Africa.

Hanoi is home to over 7 million people (2013 estimates) and is a rapidly growing municipality. In 2013, PricewaterhouseCoopers estimated that Hanoi would be fastest growing city in the world in term of GDP growth from 2008 to 2025. Hanoi has a nominal GDP of USD 21.5 Billion and per capita GDP of USD 3000.

To support and enhance this operation, Kenya Airways will work closely with Skyteam partner Vietnam Airlines, whose hub is Hanoi, in order to provide further travel options into Japan, Malaysia, Korea and China.

Kenya Airways’ Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Mbuvi Ngunze said that the potential of Vietnam as a country with strong economic growth and a growing middle class is significant.

“Vietnam has shown a considerable and stable economic growth over the recent years, including an increase in trade with Africa. As the first airline to directly connect Vietnam to Africa, we are sure to leverage on this growth. Together with our SkyTeam partner Vietnam Airlines, we are very confident the addition of Hanoi to our network will be a success” Mr Ngunze added.

In the last year, Kenya Airways has deployed its new fleet of six B787 Dreamliner aircraft for commercial service, mostly on routes to Asia and Europe. Most recently, the Dreamliner took its inaugural flight to London, one of KQ most prominent routes. Three more Dreamliners are scheduled to arrive in 2015.

With the introduction of the B787 Dreamliner, new routes and cities are now accessible from Nairobi economically, which has paved the way for Hanoi as an additional destination.

The airline, which currently has the youngest fleet in Africa, also received three 777-300ER and 3 next generation B737-800 in the last year.