Kenya Airways CEO Allan Kilavuka (third from left) is flanked by WRC Safari Rally CEO Phineas Kimathi (centre) when the two unveiled three youngsters, Hamza Anwar (third from right), McRae Kimathi (second from right) and Jeremy Wahome (second left) for the FIA Rally star program on June 9, 2021 at the national carrier’s headquarters. Kenya Airways will fly in the new hybrid rally cars for next year’s WRC Safari Rally.
| File | Nation Media GroupMotorsport
Premium
Kenya Airways to lift new hybrid rally cars for Safari
What you need to know:
- FIA will introduce the first hybrid vehicle in Monaco next month
- Challenge is to fly in the new vehicles in their long haul from Europe next year
Kenya Airways has always been part of the World Rally Championship (WRC) since 1977, flying in competitors, their service crew, and competition vehicles.
It will cross another milestone next year when it becomes the first airline to carry the first World Rally Car Hybrid Vehicle (HV) in the longest possible distance from continental Europe to Africa, over 8,000 kilometres.
The International Automobile Federation (FIA) will introduce the first HV in Monte Carlo next month and last month organised the first e-Safety Extrication and Technical Rescue Seminar in Raamsdonksveer, The Netherland attended by, among others, Doctors Raj Jutley, David Karuri and safety delegates Norris Ongalo and Dash Patel who were all flown by Kenya Airways.
Longest haul
The cabin crew is warming up for the 2022 Safari with abandon.
They always peruse the passenger manifest beforehand to ascertain the presence of WRC Safari Rally officials on board in order to give them a warm send-off or welcome as was the case in flight 117 from Amsterdam Schipol airport on November 23 this year.
Mohamed Khamisi Hamdan, accompanied by Susan Mugure and Annah Ngina cheerfully welcomed the group in truly Kenyan style of a warm smile, a body gesture missing in wintery Europe at the moment because of the chilling cold.
Other cabin crew members — Jotham Wanjohi, Oscar Saim, George Ouma, Geoffrey Kagengo, Winnie Tosian, Mary Moraa, and Mercy Wanjiru — said the WRC Safari Rally, and sports by extension, makes them feel proud while on duty abroad.
The next challenge is to fly in the Hybrid Vehicles (HVs) in their longest haul from continental Europe, only compared to New Zealand, another unknown experience but one top management is determined to fulfill.
Kenya Airways has a convenient travel itinerary for the teams, their crew, and fans easy as it flies directly to six of the 13 countries which will host the 2022 WRC, namely Germany, Italy, Greece, Sweden, France, and Denmark which serves Scandinavia’s Rally Finland.
This means that Kenya Airways can easily swell new arrivals from these countries by leveraging its marketing campaign through the Ministry of Tourism using the Safari Rally.
The airline was the official carrier of the 2021 WRC Safari Rally, bringing in top officials and factory teams’ top machines from Ford, Toyota, and Hyundai, a task it last performed in 2002.
Kenya Airways also sponsored the FIA Rally Star team of McRae Kimathi, Jeremy Wahome, and Hamza Anwar, a youthful group that has overnight become a sensation threatening to overhaul the top rallying order next year, long before their three-year engagement expires in 2023.
Kimathi continues to climb the ladder, finishing a career-best third overall in the Rwanda round of the Africa Rally Championship (ARC) recently, and together with his crew were flown there by KQ, an airline, like all in the aviation industry continue to suffer due to Covid-19 pandemic.
The airline has an agreement with the WRC Safari to use in-flight entertainment channels to promote the Safari, as one of the most important heritage of Kenya.
