FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, July 10, 1998
Contact: Bill Mosley
Tel.: (202) 366-5571
DOT 127-98
DOT Approves Code Sharing
Between Northwest and Kenya Airways
Harare, Zimbabwe -- U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater today announced that the Department of Transportation has approved a new code-sharing alliance between Northwest Airlines and Kenya Airways.
"With this new alliance, passengers traveling between the United States and Kenya can look forward to better, more convenient service," Secretary Slater said at a conference of southern and eastern African countries. "It also advances the Africa Aviation Initiative, announced by President Clinton on his historic trip to the continent in April. That initiative is designed to promote expanded aviation services between Africa and the United States, which is so critical to the continent’s integration into the world economy."
Slater shared announcement of the news with Kenya’s permanent secretary at the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, Stanley Murage, who was also attending the conference in Harare.
Under the arrangement, Northwest will place its code on flights operated by Kenya Airways between Amsterdam, Netherlands and Nairobi, Kenya and beyond.
This is only the second code-sharing arrangement between a U.S. and an African carrier. American Airlines and South African Airways have been operating code-share service between the United States and South Africa since 1992.
Current U.S.-Kenya service is provided by two code-share alliances: United Air Lines/Lufthansa German Airlines and Northwest/KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. Northwest’s code-share with Kenya Airlines will replace its code-share with KLM on services to Kenya.
The code-share authority is effective immediately and will remain in effect for one year.
The regional conference in Harare is the first of two Secretary Slater will convene to further develop President Clinton’s Safe Skies for Africa initiative and discuss other transportation issues. The second will take place in Dakar, Senegal on July 14. During his July 7-15 trip to Africa he has visited Cape Verde and Ethiopia and later will visit Angola and Cameroon.
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