Kenya Airways has been named Africa’s Leading Airline 2016.

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Kenya Airways beat other nominees including Egypt Air, Royal Air Maroc, South African Airways and Tunisair to win the coveted trophy voted by customers on Saturday at the World Travel Awards gala ceremony held in Zanzibar, Tanzania.

The airline also bagged Africa’s leading airline in the Business class for the fourth consecutive year.

Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Mbuvi Ngunze said: “We are honoured and delighted to accept these very prestigious awards. These awards reaffirm the trust reposed by our guests who are at the heart of everything we do at Kenya Airways and confirms our undeterred commitment to customer satisfaction."

“We will continue to listen to our customers and respond to their needs, with a firm commitment to providing improved connectivity, and quality service,” he added.

The awards comes barely a week after Kenya Airways Simba Lounge and Pride Lounge at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport were rated the second best after Taipei, in Taiwan by SkyTeam passengers in a recent survey.

Kenya Airways recently announced several flight scheduling changes to boost operations and facilitate better connectivity within Africa and Europe including Amsterdam.

The changes are also aimed at enhancing fleet utilisation to achieve lower cost of the fleet.

Acknowledged across the globe as the hallmark of industry excellence, World Travel Awards serves to recognise, reward and celebrate excellence across all sectors of the global travel and tourism industry within each key geographical region.