Turkish to take Kenya Airways' trio of B777-300(ER)s

Turkish Airlines (TK, Istanbul Atatürk) has reportedly struck a deal with Kenya Airways (KQ, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta) wherein it will assume the latter's unwanted fleet of three B777-300(ER)s.

Dutch media outlets report that last week, 5Y-KZY (msn 41819), and 5Y-KZZ (msn 41818) were ferried from Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta to Amsterdam where they will undergo refurbishment with KLM Engineering & Maintenance with 5Y-KZX (msn 42097) to follow. Once ready, the twinjets will be deployed on Turkish Airlines' flights to Mumbai Int'l and Delhi Int'l under the internal code "77K".

As part of its cost-cutting programme, Kenya Airways has moved to reduce over-capacity resulting in its entire fleet of B777s being parked and put up for sale. Last week, the carrier announced it would sell two B777-200(ER)s to US ACMI/charter specialist, Omni Air International (OY, Tulsa Int'l), for an undisclosed amount.
For its part, Turkish Airlines operates a fleet of twenty-three B777-300(ER)s on flights covering the Far East, Western Europe, the United States, the Middle East, and South America. While the -300(ER) is the only variant of B777 in Turkish Airlines' fleet at present, media reports suggest it is also looking at the B777-200(LR) to help open non-stop longhaul routes to places such as Sydney Kingsford Smith.

ch aviation / Duncan Stewart