Domestic carrier Renegade Air has expanded its fleet with a newly leased aircraft as it seeks to meet growing demand for affordable air travel, especially between Nairobi and western Kenya.
The newly acquired ATR 42-500 plane takes Renegade Air’s total aircraft fleet to 15 and will serve the airline’s busy Nairobi-Kisumu route.
“We needed a faster, more efficient aircraft for this route because it is currently our best. We will now have two daily flights to Kisumu and we intend to get more similar planes for our upcoming route to Diani,” Renegade Air’s head of marketing Patrick Oketch said.
The ATR 42-500 is a 46-passenger capacity plane but can be fitted to carry up to 48-50 people with a cruising speed of around 550 kilometres per hour--- a performance that reduces the Nairobi-Kisumu flight to 35 minutes, from the usual 45 minutes currently.
Renegade Air has over the years operated the De Havilland Canada commonly known as the Dash 8 aircraft, specifically the Dash 8-Q300, on the Nairobi-Kisumu route.
Other airlines serving the Nairobi–Kisumu route daily are Jambojet, Kenya Airways, Safarilink, and Skyward Express, among others. Apart from Kisumu, Renegade currently has daily flights to Wajir and Homa Bay.
Only last week, budget carrier, Jambojet, said that it has expanded its total fleet to nine with a new De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 aircraft commonly referred to as Q400.
“This marks the arrival of our ninth aircraft, and we are committed to continued growth through the Dash series. This new addition enables us to increase frequencies on the Kisumu–Nairobi and Kisumu–Mombasa routes from five daily flights to six or seven,” said Mr Karanja Ndegwa, chief executive of Jambojet.
Manufacturer specifications show that the Dash 8-400 can seat up to 90 passengers and can also serve as a freighter, firefighting aircraft, or missionised aircraft. The aircraft can operate in challenging conditions including on unpaved runways, and in remote locations where airport infrastructure may be lacking.
Jambojet currently holds a commanding 53 percent share of Kenya’s domestic air travel market, operating 11 routes across the country.
