My curiosity in the timing of this announcement stems from the following observations - in no particular order....
- Trump is keen to re-establish the credentials of his secure border policy
- Yemen and Somalia both feature on his List of Seven - both of whom are close neighbours to Kenya
- Jonny Anderson has been brought in to bring the Kenya Airports Authority into line internationally
- Michael Joseph has been brought into bring Kenya Airways back into the land of the living
- Al Shabaab affiliated themselves to ISIS a year or two ago
- Trump's presidential campaign highlighted those he considered corrupt African regimes
- KQ would appear to currently lack true long-range facilities to handle USA operations
- A large Somalia community borders JKIA
- Rumours have it that a great deal of Somali money is being invested into local aviation.
It just strikes me as curious timing to say the least.
Lastly I don't know heavy jets - so what sort of payload/range does the 777 and 787 have when operating under JKIA parameters?