We were flying from Malawi’s commercial capital, Blantyre, to Nairobi on Kenya Airways, to connect with our British Airways flight home.
Arriving 2 hours before our flight, we found, not a bustling airport terminal but what can only be described as a deserted shed. However, after 30 minutes life appeared and we were quickly checked in and our luggage booked through to Heathrow by a young man in flamboyant shirt.
A very jolly immigration chap took our fingerprints: this took quite a long time to process as he said our fingerprints hadn’t been taken on entry, probably because they were busy (an interesting comment as we were the only flight arriving at the time!).
At the gate we found the business class lounge closed, but were actually surprised to find one and a small band of travellers had gathered. Eventually the key was found and we although we were planning to have our final Malawi Gin and Tonic (MGT), there was no tonic so settled for MGS (Malawi Gin and Sprite). There were snacks of mini quiche and sausage rolls but we decided to eat on board.
It was here we bought two bottles of Malawi Gin for 3900 Kwacha (£8), to share with friends when back in blighty (see my review of our British Airways flight for what happened next when leaving Nairobi).
Our flight was called and it appeared that they’d boarded most passengers before calling us.
The Embraer E190 had six rows in business class, with a 1 and 2 configuration. As it wasn’t a very full flight, we were allocated seats across the aisle so both had plenty of space especially with a 38” seat pitch. We had fizz before take-off and for our late lunch, chose the vegetarian option of stir-fried vegetable noodles which were very good along with a G&T, (not sure if it was Malawi gin).
Although there was a small screen for a limited selection of films, the flight time was only two and a half hours so after our lunch it was time for a quick snooze before we landed on time.
