June 16, 2016: German airline Lufthansa is set to deploy larger aircraft and increase its frequencies on the Nairobi-Frankfurt route on what it linked to 'huge potential'.

The airline says it will deploy the wide-bodied Airbus A340-300 between Frankfurt and Nairobi four times a week beginning September this year, up from the current three weekly flights.

Lufthansa, one of Europe's biggest airlines, resumed direct passenger flights to Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport from late October 2015 after an 18-year absence from the Kenyan capital.

According to International Air Transport Association (IATA), demand is holding up in Africa despite the underperformance of Nigeria and South Africa. East Africa is delivering above average economic growth when the rest of the world is struggling to grow.

On Monday, Lufthansa general manager for Kenya and Ethiopia Tobias Ernst said demand has been rising in the nearly nine month period since resumption, prompting the expansion plans.

"There is huge demand including from corporate and leisure travellers, family visitors, entrepreneurial Kenyans, missionaries, humanitarian sector personnel, diplomats, and NGOs along the route hence the need to upscale," said Ernst in Nairobi.

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