Kenya Airways plans extra capacity as celebrity gorillas return home

AFTER A four hour flight into
Nairobi, a seemingly endless
layover, a connecting flight
into Douala and a harrowing
two hour bus ride to the
northern coastal town of
Limbe, C ameroon's returning
primates were greeted at the
Limbe Wildlife S anctuary by
anxious crowds hoping to
catch a glimpse of the muchpublicised
returnees.
“Overwhelming all is
the sense that something
incredibly important has
been achieved today,” said
Christina Pretorius of the
International Fund for Animal
Welfare, the N GO which
has championed the fight to
return the illegally-exported
gorillas home since 2002.
“We’re sending an unequivocal
message to those who trade
in endangered wildlife that
their dreadful activities will no
longer be tolerated.”
Kenya Airways, the
designated carrier for the
move, upgraded its flight from
South Africa to a widebody
B-767 to accommodate the
2x3 metre pallets and the
gorilla cages. But such was
the success of the move in
terms of demand, both in
terms of passengers and cargo
into N airobi, that the airline
is is keen to make the B-767
a permanent fixture on the
route.
“Currently we are in
negotiations with network
planning to give us widebody
aircraft on all our flights but as
it stands these are confirmed
only on Friday, S aturday,
Sunday and Monday,” a
spokesman told FTW.