Kenya Airways (KQ, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta) is due to take delivery of its first B787-8, 5Y-KZA (msn 35510), from Boeing (BOE, Washington National) on April 4, the carrier announced in a statement. The twinjet is now ready for its B-1 test flight Boeing sources have reported.

Altogether the Kenyan national airline expects to get six Dreamliners and an additional B777-300ER during the course of this year.

Kenya Airways Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Titus Naikuni, noted that the new fleet will enable the airline to increase the number of direct flights and frequencies to new and existing major destinations.

“Long haul routes to Paris CDG, Amsterdam Schiphol and Beijing Capital are among the destinations earmarked for direct flights, as we continue exploring new markets that will be instrumental in helping us achieve our objective, to contribute towards the sustainable development of Africa”.

The 787 and 777 fleet form a core part of the airline's 10-year growth strategy - "Project Mawingu" (Swahili for 'Clouds') - which is aimed at expanding its fleet size to 119 aircraft from the present 46 and its network coverage from 58 to 115 routes by the end of 2021.