SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY HON. UHURU KENYATTA, C.G.H.

, PRESIDENT AND COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE DEFENCE FORCES OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA OCCASION: OFFICIAL RECEPTION OF THE FIRST KENYA AIRWAYS DREAMLINER VENUE: DATE: JOMO KENYATTA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, NAIROBI 5TH APRIL, 20 !

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am delighted to join you here today to celebrate yet another milestone in the growth trajectory of our national carrier, Kenya Airways. It is only a few months, in November last year, that we unveiled the Boeing . !oday we unveil and name the airline"s first Boeing # $reamliner, ac%uired as &art of Kenya Airways" '()year fleet renewal Business *lan, +*roject ,awingu-. I am informed the &lan see.s to bolster Kenya Airways domestic, African and international route networ.. Ladies and Gentlemen, !he arrival of the $reamliner is e/cellent news for our country and the region. It &aves the way for the Kenya Airways to further dee&en our trade connections with the world, es&ecially through long haul flights. I have no doubt0 this will result in the growth of trade, tourism and other forms of interaction with the rest of the world. !his is im&ortant for two of our &riorities as a government 1 to attract investment and to create jobs. Ladies and Gentlemen, !o su&&ort Kenya Airways, we as a Government have been e/&anding our Air&ort facilities. !here is &rogress in building a new tem&orary terminal with a ca&acity of 2.3 million &assengers a year 1 e%uivalent to this air&ort"s current facility. !erminal 4 continues to &rovide an e/cellent service as an arrivals facility but will now be fully commissioned in 5uly. A new 2( million &assenger terminal is also already under construction. 6e are confident, the standard of 5omo Kenyatta International Air&ort will, indeed, be significantly enhanced as an international hub when these &rojects are all com&leted. 6e are determined that this air&ort will fulfil its mandate as the air hub for 7ast and 8entral Africa.

6e endeavor to use every o&&ortunity to move the agenda of national transformation one more ste& ahead, and we will embrace the o&&ortunity to lift the %uality and traveler e/&erience at this air&ort. 6e .now that infrastructure develo&ment is critical to economic growth. !hat is why we embrace infrastructure develo&ment whole)heartedly. Ladies and Gentlemen, 6ith Kenya Airways flying to 9' destinations in 2(': and the &lanned e/&ansion to '' destinations, the airline has more global &resence than the embassies that Kenya has o&ened around the world. !his means the airline will continue to be, in most cases, the first contact the world has with Kenya. !hat comes with great res&onsibility. As a window showcasing Kenya, the airline has to continuously wor. to ensure &assengers have something &ositive to remember about the country. As Kenya Airways e/&ands, it must loo. at the factors of &roductivity as it is o&erating in a global conte/t. *ilot costs are a significant &art of your &ayroll. !his is not just in salaries, but also training across fleets, &roductivity and other related costs. It is im&erative that as a country we o&timise our labour arrangements to be able to remain com&etitive. I am informed that today our labour is less &roductive than our closest com&etitor, the 7thio&ian Airline. Any legacy arrangements that may have wor.ed in a fairly stable o&erating environment need to be challenged in this &eriod of ra&id growth to ensure that we get the best &ossible results from a &roductivity &ers&ective. ;ou must also sim&lify your o&erations and enhance your com&etitive foot&rint as &art of my government<s vision of ma.ing Nairobi a .ey hub in Africa. Ladies and Gentlemen, !he growth of Kenya Airways is im&ortant for our tourism sector. Indeed, with the growth &rojected in international tourist numbers, the contribution of our national carrier in facilitating this will be crucial. In the 2('2=2(': financial year, '.'9 million tourists visited the country from across the world, earning us over Ksh. >9 billion. 6ith the on)going investments by our different tourism sta.eholders, our target is to grow the tourist arrivals to the tune of : million &er year over the ne/t three years. Ladies and Gentlemen, 6hile the airline &lays its rightful ambassadorial role, we in government and the industry will &lay ours as facilitators. ?ur being at this christening this morning is &art of that role to continuously manifest our &eo&le"s collective desire for unity and &ros&erity. !he fastest way to

achieve both these as&irations is to lead the way to greater integration and faster economic growth. ?ur vision of a &eaceful, highly develo&ed, borderless region is %uic.ly becoming a reality in our region, fuelled by our commitment to build @irst 8lass infrastructure that will ease movement of &eo&le, goods and services. In Kenya and in the region, we are wor.ing to unloc. the great &otential of our economies and transform our &eo&les" lives. 6e do so with disci&line and commitment. Ladies and Gentlemen, ;ou are aware of our commitment to build a standard gauge rail that will lin. Kenya with its &artners Aganda, Bwanda, Burundi and Couthern Cudan. ;ou .now about the LA*CC7! &rogramme. ;ou .now that we are im&roving the country"s road networ.s. ;ou .now about our investment in im&roving air&orts. 6e are committed to im&roving infrastructure so that sta.eholders, li.e Kenya Airways, can deliver a %uality service and &lay their &art in growing the economy. Ladies and Gentlemen, Let me in conclusion reiterate that we welcome this investment by Kenya Airways and, as a Government, we remain committed to su&&orting Kenya Airways realiDe its dream. 6ith greater efficiency and high)im&act investment, we are confident, Kenya Airways will truly live to its mantle as +the *ride of Africa-. Ladies and Gentlemen, 6ith those few remar.s, I now declare the Boeing launched. I than. you and God Bless you and God Bless Kenya. # $reamliner officially