Travellers flying between Nairobi and Dubai will have twice as many Kenya Airways flight options from September after the airline secured a second landing slot at Dubai International Airport, allowing it to double its daily operations on one of its busiest international routes.
The national carrier said it will increase its Nairobi-Dubai schedule from seven flights a week to 14 beginning September 1, a move that comes at a time when competition on the route is rising following Emirates' decision to introduce a third daily service.
Kenya Airways Chief Commercial and Customer Officer Julius Thairu said the airline was expanding its services after receiving the necessary approvals and responding to growing demand from travellers.
"We are currently operating seven weekly (daily) flights and growing to 14 weekly (double daily) flights from September 1. Frequency increases are subject to demand, aircraft availability, operational readiness, slot allocation and the required regulatory approvals," Thairu said as quoted by Business Daily.
He said the airline only increases flight frequencies after reviewing key operational and commercial factors such as aircraft availability, crew planning, airport slot access, passenger demand and network connectivity.
The additional service marks a major step for Kenya Airways, which industry sources say had spent years seeking another landing slot at Dubai International Airport. The sources said the airline believed the lack of an extra slot had limited its ability to compete with UAE carriers that already operate several daily flights into Kenya.
The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority and the State Department for Aviation and Aerospace Development did not respond to claims about the long-running request for another landing slot.
Emirates now flies three times a day between Nairobi and Dubai using Boeing 777 aircraft, offering capacity for more than 900 passengers every day.
Kenya Airways currently operates the route with a 147-seat Boeing 737-8 aircraft on its daily service but has not announced which aircraft will be assigned to the second flight.
Dubai continues to rank among the airline's strongest international destinations. AeroTrail data shows that 248,802 passengers travelled from Nairobi to Dubai between January and June 2026 despite travel disruptions linked to the Iran conflict.
The route recorded 51,149 outbound passengers in June alone, making it the second busiest after Nairobi-Mombasa.
Kenya Airways also relies heavily on the Dubai route for revenue. In 2025, the airline earned Sh9.7 billion from the destination, accounting for six per cent of its total earnings.