Kenya Airways (KQ, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta) has taken back one B777-300ER from Turkish Airlines following the expiry of a long-term operating lease and will deploy the widebody on its flagship Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta-London Heathrow route from July 17.

ADS-B data shows that TC-LKC (msn 42097) returned from Istanbul Airport to Nairobi on July 7.

The Kenyan registration of the aircraft was 5Y-KZX before it was leased to the Turkish flag carrier on March 7, 2016, ch-aviation data reveals. The aircraft had been in pre-redelivery maintenance at Istanbul Atatürk since January.

Kenya Airways Group acting managing director and CEO, George Kamal, confirmed to ch-aviation that re-registration of the aircraft was ongoing.

"It will fly the first few flights from Nairobi to Mombasa from the July 12-16, then London Heathrow from the July 17 onwards."

Kamal also confirmed that the airline was working on securing a backup sistership for the B777.

The airline plans to deploy the B777 on the route 4x weekly, partially replacing the B787-8 type currently operating the route.

The 400-seater TK-LKC is one of three B777-300ERs that Kenya Airways added in 2013-2014. The airline retired all three in January 2016 after determining that they were too large for its operational requirements. All three were subsequently transferred to Turkish Airlines, with the other two remaining on lease.

Kamal also confirmed that all of the airline's nine B787s are expected to be back in service by the end of 2027. Two of its B787s have been grounded since late 2024 due to engine maintenance shortages and global supply chain issues, while a third is undergoing scheduled 12-year major maintenance, the first being done internally.