The Lufthansa Group is reaffirming its commitment to East Africa by relocating the commercial responsibility for the passenger business back to Kenya. With this step, effective 01 March 2023, Lufthansa Group appointed Kevin Markette as the new General Manager (GM) for the East African region. This encompasses Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania. With his position and team permanently based in Nairobi, Kenya, he will be able to better focus on the needs of our local customers and through a physical presence in the region be closer to the market.
Kevin Markette succeeds Dr. André Schulz, who has been appointed Head of Region Middle East, Africa, South Asia & CIS at Lufthansa Cargo. In his new function Kevin reports to Philippe Saeys-Desmedt, Senior Director of Sales Sub-Sahara Africa, Lufthansa Group.
“It is our pleasure to welcome Kevin Markette to this important and dynamic region. We draw upon Kevin’s vast global experience, including that on the African continent to enhance our market position and trustful relationships established with our business partners and customers. Being now located with his team in the East African region, seated in Nairobi, he will quickly forge new relationships in the region”, says Philippe Saeys-Desmedt, Senior Director of Sales Sub-Sahara Africa, Lufthansa Group. Kevin previously headed up several teams within the Sales and Customer Servicing organization of the Lufthansa Group across various cities, including New York, Atlanta, Accra, Dubai, Lagos, Karachi and Johannesburg.
Educated in South Africa and qualified as a Commercial Pilot, he is an experienced airliner having started working for the Lufthansa Group in 2000.
Industry sources added that Lufthansa increases capacity to East Africa with additional Nairobi flights As global travel continues its significant recovery path, the increasing demand for further capacity is felt throughout various markets worldwide.
Industry sources further added that the Lufthansa Group continuously reviews such commercial demands and makes the necessary adjustments for the upcoming summer flight schedule where possible. Thanks to positive booking trends, effective from 03 June 2023, Lufthansa will expand its current connection from Frankfurt, Germany into Nairobi for the summer flight schedule from five to seven weekly flights. The additional flights will arrive from Frankfurt in Nairobi at 20:30 on a daily basis and the returning flight will depart each evening from Nairobi at 22:25 (local time). At the same time, the four weekly flights between Frankfurt and Mombasa which are operated by the Lufthansa Group’s leisure carrier Eurowings Discover, shall be maintained for the summer flight plan, bringing the total capacity offered between Kenya and Germany to eleven weekly flights.
The Vital strategic market for the Lufthansa Group
Lufthansa Group sources added that they have a strong commercial focus on leisure destinations in the region and already offer three East African destinations through its Eurowings Discover network: Mombasa, Zanzibar, and Kilimanjaro.
“East Africa is undoubtedly one of the most important markets for us on the continent, and our booking figures reflect that the region is particularly popular with holidaymakers from Germany and abroad. Thanks to the vast expansion of our route network on the continent, together with our Group airlines, our customers can now reach their idyllic holiday or business destinations much faster and more directly”, stated Kevin Markette, General Manager East Africa, Lufthansa Group.
“Furthermore, by increasing our Lufthansa frequencies between Nairobi and Frankfurt, we are underlining the importance of Kenya for the Lufthansa Group, as well as our long-term commitment to the region. Such positive developments can only be accomplished through strong partnerships with Kenyan corporates who share a common goal and who supported and trusted us throughout the recent challenging years. Together we share the vision that East Africa still has a lot of potential for growth”, stated Kevin Markette.
Some news related to Lufthansa Group before:
Lufthansa Group achieves an Adjusted EBIT of EUR 1.3 billion in the third quarter
Lufthansa Group reports 3% passenger growth in UAE as customer demand surges
