China Southern Airlines has selected Netherlands-based Direct Maintenance to support its operations in Kenyan capital Nairobi.

The line maintenance specialist – which is headquartered in Nuth, near Maastricht – has a network of stations in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Yesterday, China Southern conducted its inaugural flight to Nairobi from its base in Guangzhou.

It is deploying Airbus A330-200s for the thrice-weekly service.

Flightglobal's Innovata schedules confirm the Guangzhou-Nairobi link to be the sole direct passenger service operated by a Chinese carrier between China and continental Africa.

Source: Cirium Dashboard