How Much It Would Have Cost Ruto To Fly To US With Kenya Airways
Ruto argued that the jet presented the cheapest option compared to using commercial means
Marvin Chege 
President William Ruto on Sunday, May 26 stirred conversation across different quarters following his explanation on deciding to hire a luxurious private jet to the United States (US) for his visit as compared to flying commercially with Kenya Airways (KQ), which operates direct flights between the American nation and Kenya.
Ruto argued that the jet presented the cheapest option compared to using commercial means, saying on his X account that "As a responsible steward of public resources and in keeping with my determination for us to live within our means and that I should lead from the front in so doing, the cost was less than travelling on KQ."
Many believed that Ruto was not standing right by the national airline which is angling towards a return to profitability.
President William Ruto and First Lady Rachel Ruto alight from a plane at Atlanta, Georgia, US on May 20, 2024. /PCS
Wiper Leader, Kalonzo Musyoka demanded that the Head of State reveal the particulars in terms of the recent trip to the US.
"I challenge President William Ruto to lay bare all the facts regarding his recent overseas trip to the US. The money used to hire the Dubai private jet vis-à-vis using our National Carrier Kenya Airways needs further examination," Kalonzo said on X.
To verify this claim, KTN News carried out a fact check on the costs associated with both travel methods. Kenya Airways operates direct flights between JFK International Airport in New York and Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), with a flight time of 15 hours.
On requesting a quote from the Kenya Airways website regarding a business-class ticket for the Nairobi-New York leg, the journalists found out that a business-class seat costs approximately Ksh847,000.
When rounded up to Ksh1 million per ticket, the total cost for all seats equivalent to those in President Ruto's Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) would be Ksh34 million. The BBJ for Ruto's trip has eight VIP seats, eight business seats, and 18 standard seats.
If the KQ tickets were booked with respect to the differentiated class of seats in the chartered plane, the cost would have been significantly less, with a difference of approximately Ksh164 million, according to the report.
Claims revealed that the cost of hiring the BBJ came to about Ksh200 million, which would suggest that President Ruto's claim about the cost of hiring the jet being less than travelling commercially may not hold water.
Moreover, the report revealed that Ruto's predecessors, the late Mwai Kibaki and former President Uhuru Kenyatta all used commercial means at some point, with Uhuru notably using KQ when it launched flights between Kenya and the US for the first time.
Meanwhile, Kenya Airways denied a statement which went viral on social media which allegedly addressed the ongoing public debate about President Ruto's use of a luxury private jet for his US state visit.
The statement appeared to contradict Ruto's remarks that travelling to the US through private means was cheaper than travelling commercially.
