Kenya Airways direct flight from New York received by DP Ruto

At 9: 15 am on Tuesday, the Kenya Airways Boeing 787-8 dreamliner touched down at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) marking the end of a complete maiden trip to the U.S.

A section of Kenyans led by Deputy President William Ruto were at the airport to receive the delegation that accompanied Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma.

Ruto described the 15-hour flight, which reduces the journey between Nairobi and New York by over 7 hours, as a game changer.

“Transit passengers are likely to increase and this is part of our strategy to improve our regional competitiveness in the aviation sector which accounts for 5.1 percent of our GDP,” said Ruto.

The flight left Nairobi for New York on Sunday at about 11.20 pm with 234 passengers, including government officials, KQ Chairman Michael Joseph and US Ambassador to Kenya Robert Godec.

Upon landing at the JKF International Airport on Monday at 2.45 pm Kenya time (7.44am New York time), the KQ plane received a water salute, which occurs for ceremonial purposes.

The water salute is a touching airport tradition to honour military events, new airline service, anniversaries, noteworthy events at airport, last schedule of an airplane to that airport, and foreign dignitaries.

The launch of the direct flight is expected to attract more US corporations into the Kenyan market, to add to the more than 40 that have already set base in Nairobi as their Africa headquarters.

The direct flight is also expected to increase tourist traffic to Kenya with the government projecting that it will bring in more corporate and high-end tourists.