Kenya Airways Boeing 737-800 Business Class Seats: Photo credit: Mighty Travels

After a tiresome period of planning our wedding, yearning for something exciting yet not too different was the only way we could unstuck ourselves from that rut of stress and travelling was the ideal option to test ourselves.

However, having an enjoyable trip was the main thing that determined the pre-trip choices we made. Choosing a holiday destination wasn’t difficult as we already had Nairobi, Kenya in mind. But deciding on the airline to travel with was a gamble. I needed a new experience all together as I had used both Kenya Airways and RwandAir twice or thrice. Ethiopian Airlines has been the preferred choice but my husband wanted the 'Kenya Airways experience', so we settled for Kenya Airways.

ITINERARY

Date: July 4, 2018

Flight: KQ503

Route: ACC to NBO

Scheduled Departure: 20:45

Actual Departure: 21:20

Scheduled Arrival: 05:40

Actual Arrival: 05:25

Duration: 5h 55m

Equipment: Boeing 737-800NG

Check-In and Boarding

Consumed with trip planning, we forgot to check-in online, so we had to keep up with the airline's rule of arriving at the airport two hours before scheduled departure time. But my husband and I got to the airport 20 minutes late. Check-in at the counter was slow due to system challenge probably related to network issues. Boarding started at 19:25. It should have been quick and swift except for the fuelling of the aircraft as at the time of boarding. It was five passengers at a go.

Aircraft and Seat

The aircraft was a two-class Boeing 737-800NG with 6-abreast configuration in the economy class and 4-abreast configuration in the business class. I was travelling with my husband and the check-in agent was kind enough to seat us together.

Our seats were 17H & 17J (window and middle seats) in the economy cabin. For me, the seats weren't very comfortable as we couldn't recline them.

The seats were as rigid as the word itself and we sat upright throughout the flight. However, the leg room and seat width were quite okay.

The Flight and the Crew

Taxing and takeoff was so smooth, no serious vibration that could give one a headache. The flight crew was led by Captain Enoch Wasswa, and assisted by First Officer Brian. The captain's briefing was short and precise. Both crews were extremely friendly and very welcoming. My favorite part of the flight was the movie session with KQ App.

Onboard Refreshment

Honestly, the meal was nothing to write home about. My husband and I requested for beef sauce with steamed rice accompaniment. The food was so salty; in fact, it was as if a bottle of salt was poured into the small portion of sauce. Although I didn't enjoy the meal, I wasn't so perturbed as flight meals usually taste salty.

According to my husband, "the meal was undefined. Though I've never eaten airline foods before, this one was like a slabs of greying chicken which tasted bad. The whole meal was sad-looking, some sort of chicken mystery meal. Nothing interesting to talk about". Personally, I know flight meals are not usually very nice, but the food on this flight was that bad. However, I should point out that the food was the only bad experience out of many fun moments we had with Kenya Airways.

Arrival

Following the 5hours flights, we touched down at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi at 5:25am beating the scheduled arrival time of 5:40am. Although we departed Accra behind schedule, the crew 'made up' for the delay on air. Sincerely, this happened to be my smoothest flight ever. My husband and I were the last to disembark as I wanted to take a selfie with the flight crews and that decision was golden. One cabin crew with the name, Bridget took me to the cockpit to meet the Captain. Both crews were Kenyans, lovely and very approachable.

Flight Summary

Check-in: 60%

Boarding: 70%

Aircraft: 80%

The Crew: 98%

The Flight: 95%

The Seat: 50%

Onboard Refreshment: 50%

Punctuality: 95%

Honestly speaking, my previous trips with Kenya Airways had been complicated, complex and somehow painful with endurance of horrible delays. But this time around, my perspective with Kenya Airways was that of a deeper experience. Flying with Kenya Airways has got me a bit attached to the airline and the country Kenya as a whole, hence this review.