Kenya Airways (KQ, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta) intends to switch the leasing arrangements of its sole A330-300 from Hi Fly Malta (3L, Malta International) from a wet- to a damp lease and has already commenced crew training in this regard, reports Business Day Africa.

Citing an unnamed airline spokesperson, the newspaper reported the change was necessitated by "language barriers and divergent customer service approaches". It claimed that "customer dissatisfaction, particularly in the premium class, has prompted KQ [Kenya Airways] to consider an aircraft replacement" but did not elaborate.

Group MD and CEO Allan Kilavuka subsequently stated: "Yes, we have reviewed the wet lease and have commenced crew training to replace and complement some of our flights as we head into the busy high season. We do take our customer feedback seriously, and the training of our crew is to ensure our service and safety standards are met, even exceeded, and harmonised across our network.

"NDAs [non-disclosure agreements] cover our contractual agreements. However, all our contractual agreements for our leases ensure that we have complimentary aircraft available, especially when a KQ aircraft needs to undergo planned or unplanned maintenance in addition to an immediate response to the high network and commercial demand," he explained.

Primarily operating Boeing and Embraer aircraft, Kenya Airways reportedly acknowledged the need for Airbus standards training.

The A330, 9H-HFI (msn 805), was leased in December 2023 to increase capacity during peak season. It will reportedly remain in service to minimise operational disruptions while one of Kenya Airways' nine B787-8s is grounded due to spare part unavailability.

According to the ch-aviation fleets module, Kenya Airways' fleet comprises eight B737-800s, nine B787-8s, two B737-300(SF), two B737-800(SF), and thirteen E190s which the airline is phasing out.