Larry Madowo Stunned After KQ Charges Him KSh 196k From JKIA To Entebbe: "Cattle Class"

• Some curious Kenyans questioned what Larry Madowo meant by cattle class, even concluding it was offensive
• The CNN journalist claimed that Kenya Airways had exorbitantly charged him for a short flight
• He claimed that he had been charged US dollars 1268 which is about KSh 196,000, a claim some Kenyans contested as others got perplexed by the airfare rate

Michael Ollinga is a journalist at TUKO.co.ke with over 10 years of experience covering courts and crimes, special reports, and current affairs in Kenya.

CNN correspondent Larry Madowo has called out Kenya's national carrier, Kenya Airways, for allegedly exorbitantly charging him for a one-hour flight.

Madowo is a celebrated Kenyan journalist who rose to practice across top international media outlets, including the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Taking to his Facebook timeline on Wednesday, December 20, Madowo accused Kenya Airways of being too expensive and asked the management of Pride of Africa to be considerate in the pricing of their tickets.

According to Madowo, he had paid US$1268 (about KSh 196,000) for a return ticket from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), Nairobi, to Entebbe International Airport in neighbouring Uganda.

What is a cattle class?

Even appalling to the journalist, the ticket was for a cattle class ticket.

"Hard to believe, but Kenya Airways charged me $1,268 for a Nairobi-Entebbe return ticket in cattle class," Madowo posted.

A cattle-class ticket is an informal name for the economy-class section of a plane or train where passengers have little space to move.

The term is credited to Australian agriculturalist Reginald Heading. He was rewarded as the Local Hero for South Australia for his 25 years working with dairy farmers across Asia and acknowledged for the term added to the Oxford Dictionary.

According to Heading, as a stockman, he had to travel at the back of the plane with a veterinarian and around 150 cattle, and one day, when he returned from a trip to India, he told someone he traveled "even behind further than cattle class.".

"I have travelled cattle class so many times myself later in life and never thought it would stick anywhere," he told abc.net.

Kenya Airways ticket prices

The journalist, who ignited a chain of reactions from Kenyans online, said it was beyond explanation that a one-hour flight could cost that much and prevailed on KQ to revisit their rates.

"There’s no reason why a 1-hour flight should cost KSh 200,000, even if it were last minute like mine! Je, huu ni ungwana? (Is this really fair)?" Madowo posed.

Madowo's fans had earlier in the day praised him for interviewing former Manchester United star Patrice Evra.