Kenya Airways Reviews 

light KQ108 (Nairobi–London) was cancelled due to a technical issue. What followed was very poor service.

No proactive rebooking. We had to make multiple international calls at our own cost to secure a return flight. Airline-arranged transport to the airport never arrived, so we paid for taxis. We were rerouted via Amsterdam with a 30-minute connection, arrived 36 hours late, and landed at Heathrow instead of Gatwick.

Our checked luggage was delayed by two days, and we had extra costs for taxis, parking, and essentials. The settlement offered later did not reflect the disruption or expenses.

I would not recommend Kenya Airways, especially for families.

I'll start by highlighting the positives my flight was on 23rd and I want to say thank you to cabin crew Biwott and Viola for helping me with my baby Gigi you made my flight easier thank you. My flight back to Dubai Kanja was also very helpful thank you it is people like you that make us choose KQ every now and then despite of the delays that keep happening. My only issue with KQ is the delays please work on that!!

Horrible experience travelling with worst airline of all time, will avoid at all costs

Our first flight was delayed, then cancelled an hour before departure, the second one so delayed that we had to reschedule because we would've missed our connection flight. This resulted us in having to sleep in Nairobi for 2 nights. We, as an LGBT couple feared for our safety because Kenya is not as accepting as our country of residence. The hotels we were placed in was substandard to what we would've had in the Seychelles, and the airline refuses to reimburse. My bag was broken and I was offered another second hand broken bag as 'compensation'. On our way back our flight was also cancelled. everybody speaks about how you cancel your flights, and I will NEVER fly with Kenya Airways again

Unbelievable! Unreliable flight times and rude poor customer service. I really wished I'd read reviews before booking with them.
The flights changed more than any other airline i have ever been on, with the last one changing to the extent that we would miss our connecting flight and then our flight home to Australia. There was no one to contact for support and the so-called 24 hour WhatsApp line was not great.
We got in touch with a Remyius or Remigus (he refused to give proper details) Cleophas at Kigali. I spoke to him on the phone and he knew we were at the airport too but did not tell us to come and see him. He said he would see what he could do with getting our 3 seats out of Rwanda to make our flight. After not hearing from him, I went to find someone at the airport (4th attempt because no one was there all afternoon). He was actually at the airport and he had not attended to our call but was instead placing other people on flights who had come to see him in person. He was not helpful and we said we were flexible and could pay for an upgrade to business class if need be or happy to split ourselves across two flights. He insisted there was nothing until the next afternoon, which totally meant we would miss our flights. He was unhelpful to us in the extreme. We went ahead with what he said but told him we'd also do some independent investigation. He just said we had no choice over and over.
We went to the Rwandair office next door and they said there would be 3 seats and the Rwandair person even went to talk to Mr Cleophas to explain, but came out shaking his head saying that he's sorry there's nothing he could do. It was up to the Kenya Airways man. We said we would take a flight to Brussels - anything to get us close to London so we could fly home.

Finally, we went to Brussels Airline and paid for flights to London leaving Kigali that evening. ($10k later but we didn't miss our big flights). It was the only rude and awful experience we had encountered in our Rwandan travel. Very disappointing and I will definitely avoid in the future.
It was ironic that I sat in Brussels 12 hours later awaiting our flight to London (where we were able to catch our flight to Australia no thanks to Kenya airlines staff) and I got a WhatsApp message from the "24 hour helpline" saying sorry for the delay can they help and what is our flight number? That ship had long sailed.

This was the first and last time I will use this airline. The first flight from Heathrow to Nairobi was delayed by an hour with no explanation why.
We then spent over 6+ hours stuck in Lusaka waiting to connect to Harare, due to a broken oxygen tank. The staff hardly gave us any progress updates and things only changed when passengers got rowdy and demanded answers. To make matters worse, when I finally arrived to Harare, my luggage had been left behind and I had to return to the airport the following day to retrieve my bags. I completed an only complaint form (twice!) requesting compansation for the severe delay, only to ignored. I will never use this airline again.

On my way to narobi my flight was disgusting. The TV console not working, the air phone was crackly, the food was disgusting, the staff didn't talk much. When I asked to move to another seat there wasn't any. On the way back to UK the same thing happened with TV console not working. I again asked to be moved and was told no seats available yet their was chairs in business class. Why have the seat vacant if the electrics don't work. Block the seat would have been better. When offering drinks they only mention coffee tea and cold drinks, no alcohol. You have to ask for beer etc. The worst flight I have ever used in 40 years

A manager at Heathrow,Tas, insisted I buy an evisa before travelling to Zimbabwe and wouldn't let me check in my bags.She then insisted on phoning Zimbabwe to check on the processes when I said my payment couldn't be processed.
Both the Zimbabwe and UK government websites clearly state you can buy a visa on arrival.
This all caused me a lot of stress and a 45 minute delay after an already extremely difficult and problematic journey to Heathrow.

1. Flight Delay KQ108 – 12 September 2025
My husband and I were booked on Kenya Airways flight KQ101, originally scheduled to depart on 12 September 2025 at 23:40 hours.

The flight was initially delayed by 30 minutes, which we were notified about earlier that day. Subsequently, we were informed, both via announcements made by the flight crew and through discussions with Kenya Airways representatives, that the delay was due to a technical issue with the aircraft. Passengers remained on board the aircraft on the runway for approximately four hours before being disembarked. The flight ultimately departed at 12:30 hours on 13 September, resulting in a delay of nearly 13 hours. Whilst some other passengers were taken to hotels, due to this being a transit stop for us, we had no visa to leave the airport and Kenyan Airways ckaimed the visa system was down and they were unabke to assist us!

2. Earlier Flight Change – Dar es Salaam to Nairobi
In addition, I wish to raise a further claim regarding a separate disruption. We were originally booked on flight KQ487 from Dar es Salaam to Nairobi, scheduled to depart at 20:45 hours on the 12th September. This flight was cancelled with very little notice, and we were rebooked onto an earlier flight departing at 15:30 hours.
At the time of this notification, my husband and I were still in Zanzibar and were therefore unable to reach Dar es Salaam in time for the rescheduled flight. We travelled to Zanzibar Airport to seek assistance, only to find that there were no Kenya Airways representatives present. We were then required to travel to the Kenya Airways offices in Stone Town to find a resolution. Eventually, we were rebooked onto a flight from Zanzibar to Nairobi departing at 20:40 hours.
This disruption resulted in us spending approximately eight hours waiting in an airport, in addition to incurring unplanned taxi expenses to reach Stone Town. By the time we arrived in Nairobi, we had already endured a full day of travel-related stress and inconvenience.

Dispute numerous correspondence with KA and all supporting evidence submitted, due to them not being covered by EU or other regulations, they refuse to pay any compensation. No goodwill gesture has been offered by way of credit towards another flight . Absolutely disgusting behaviour and wont be booking anything further with them.

Do they ever fly as planned??!! We now have two times in a row with them creating a complete mess as they can not fly as scheduled and missing our connections (with other airlines). Would then expect some service and ownership to resolve the mess, but no.

Ok, here's the experience, a fellow passengers base of seat not existing, my remote for the screen does did not work so I annoyed the passenger infront of me for 10hrs when I needed to make changes as the screen always shit as well, my sons seat would not fully recline, daughter could only complain of the musty smell, the only thing ontime is their messages to inform you about their delays, not to mention forgetting to tell us that the was a stop over when we bought the ticket, no urgecy, no quality reasons just delay notification. I will say the cabin staff try their best and the food is just about acceptable, the rest is shit. Go fly on Ethiopian airways. I would say if you are the pride of Africa then they are the pride of the universe. Go take a few pointers because you are shit....and I will never let anyone I know fly with this Mickey mouse outfit.

I booked a long-haul flight with Kenya Airways in March, with a 2.5-hour layover in Nairobi. About a month later, they changed the schedule and turned that layover into 12 hours. I contacted customer service to ask if a lounge pass could be provided given the drastic change. Of course, that was denied. I ended up booking an Airbnb near the airport just to get through the layover.

After that, they kept making small but frequent schedule changes. Sometimes I was notified by email, other times there was no notification at all. I only noticed when I logged into their website.

Then, 12 days before departure, they outright canceled one leg of the flight without offering any alternative. This made the entire itinerary unusable, so I had no choice but to book a new flight with another airline at last-minute prices.

Since Kenya Airways canceled the flight, I expected a full refund but they refused to refund part of the fees. So I disputed the charge with my bank (and won).

Their WhatsApp customer service is also a joke. It says someone will respond shortly, which can mean the next day or while you’re asleep and then they close the chat due to "inactivity” on your side.

So yes, just avoid them. It really is that bad. Based on this experience, I can easily see how the other negative reviews happen.

This is the shitiest airline I've ever used, a 29hr flight from zimbabwe to Mumbai which was already long on its own was further delayed from 4.35pm to 8.05pm no apologies not even a place to rest while waiting for the delayed flight, I will never ever use this useless airline

Kenya Airways boasts that it is “The Pride of Africa,” but in reality, it’s the scam and disappointment of Africa. I urge anyone flying from the US: pay the extra money and choose a different airline. My family’s recent experience was absolutely appalling. We paid $500 to select seats in advance, yet Kenya Airways’ system failed to recognize our payment (even though my credit card was charged), not once, not twice, but three separate times, forcing us to pay over and over just to check in and board. At the airport, we presented all the confirmations to the ticketing agent who claimed we still needed to pay, which she acknowledged and printed our boarding passes. Then, the gate agent allowed our two teenage children to board an international flight unaccompanied, while my wife, our sleeping five-year-old, and I were stopped and accused of not paying for our seats and she wouldn’t accept the receipts I showed her because “her system showed our seats as unpaid”. I was forced to sprint through the airport, desperate to resolve the issue, only for the service desk to show the seats were already paid. After several frantic calls and more unnecessary charges, we were finally allowed on board, but our children were left terrified and confused throughout the ordeal as they didn’t know why we weren’t getting on the plan right behind them.
As if that’s not enough, Kenya Airways’ customer service is a complete farce. I’ve spent weeks calling and emailing about the seat charges they may we pay multiple times, and every time, I’m told to wait for a response within two hours. It’s been two weeks with no reply. Their seats are ancient, uncomfortable, and nearly devoid of padding, imagine enduring fifteen hours in a chair that feels like a wooden bench. And their scheduling is a joke: our flights were canceled four times between booking and our actual departure. I wasted hours on the phone, scrambling to find alternatives, and we were forced to shorten our vacation to avoid their ridiculous suggestion of a 50-minute connection at JFK, which anyone who travels internationally knows is impossible when you have checked bags and kids. Their agents insisted it would be fine because they don’t care, they were just trying to get me off the phone.

This airline is a masterclass in incompetence and apathy. If you value your time, your money, and your family’s safety, avoid Kenya Airways at all costs. You deserve better than the chaos, discomfort, and unprofessionalism they deliver.

Everything was chaos starting from the check in.I took kenya airways from joburg to Da es Salam.The food is terrible and the worse part of it is they lost my luggage on 30Oct 2025 and today it’s 5 Jan 2026 they is no reimbursement or finding of my luggage.This is how they treat their customers acting like they are doing something yet nothing.Book at your own risk ⚠️Not even 1 star it deserves

Worst flying experience of our lives. Delays, bad communication, lack of accountability, horrible food. One of our flights was delayed becaue there was no pilot and no crew. There was no pilot for a scheduled flight. We had to wait for someone to wake up and come to work? I think so.

First time flying with Kenya Airways and they disrupted my plans with moving the flight totally inconveniencing me and my wife without any explanation why the flight had to be moved to later times. We were supposed to arrive at Zanzibar at 9pm however only arrived at 3am the following day, got to the hotel just before 5am 😭😭😭. The worst thing is no explanation, i asked the staff and all they said was “operational issues”, like couldn’t there be a better detailed explanation on this total disruption? Understandable that things change operationally, but treat us with respect please. This service is not for free.

I’ve flown with Kenya airways many times in the past and had no issues but my experience with them this time means I’ll avoid flying with them at all going forward. All my flights changed multiple times, up to the day before my flight. When I asked for assistance with finding additional hotel as my hotel was fully booked they said I would have to go to the airport and ask the staff there if they could help me find a hotel as they can’t help with that over the phone, I ended up booking another flight with another airline to sort this out but then had to waive any right to a refund or compensation or they’d cancel my entire booking with no refund.

I had also booked paid seats when I made my initial booking and then when I went to check in the seat was taken by someone else and I had to pay again for an extra legroom seat and now Kenya airways are refusing to provide a refund, after I contacted them 3 times about this and they said I had to send them all the payment details etc because they can’t just find it on their system from the booking reference.

Overall experience has unfortunately been incredibly negative and I would not recommend flying Kenya Aiways.

Kenya Airways - oh dear

What a shanbles.

How on earth do you still function as a profit making organisation. This airline is terrible. Delinquent in all respects. A fantastic example of systemic failure.
Nothing works.
Aircraft are awful.
Customer service is non existent
Total shambles.
Embarrassing.

However, the pilot made a good landing so I’ve offered a 1 star review 👍

This is by far the worst airline I’ve ever had the displeasure of flying on. I was bumped on my flight twice in one day. When I was moved to a later flight my additional baggage and extra leg room did not move with it. If you have a lot of time to waste then perhaps this is the airline for you. I wanted to give a Kenyan airline the benefit of the doubt a fact I deeply regret now. My final flight was delayed one hour no announcement no representatives just abandoned gate desks and the faces of worried and confused customers.