Excess Baggage to Kenya? Ship Your Extra Bags Instead.
Flying from the UK to Kenya with too much luggage? Send extra bags, boxes, gifts and shopping with Triple A at £6.99/kg — KRA clearance included, weekly Friday air freight dispatch to Nairobi, arriving in 3 business days.
💬 WhatsApp "BAGGAGE" for a fast quoteShould you pay the airline — or ship it separately?
If you're reading this, you're probably staring at a set of bags you already know is over the limit. Maybe it's gifts for family, shopping you couldn't resist, a student's whole life in suitcases, or stock for a business back home.
Here's the honest answer up front: the airline is sometimes the right choice, and shipping is sometimes the right choice. It depends on what you're carrying, how much of it there is, and whether it needs to land the same hour you do.
And this isn't just a summer problem. Christmas and Easter travel, December holidays, weddings, students starting or finishing the academic year, expats relocating and returning residents moving home for good — every travel season hits the same baggage wall at check-in. Whenever you're flying, the maths below is the same.
What follows is the comparison nobody else publishes for this route: what each major airline actually charges for excess baggage between the UK and Kenya, the traps in the fine print, what happens at JKIA customs when you land with new items — and exactly when shipping your extra bags separately works out simpler and better value.
Airline baggage rules change frequently. Always confirm your allowance in your airline's Manage Booking before travel. This guide is for comparison and planning only. Triple A Global Logistics is not affiliated with Kenya Airways, British Airways, Qatar Airways or Emirates.
What the airlines actually charge (UK ⇄ Kenya)
Kenya Airways
- Free allowance: Economy 2 × 23kg · Business 2 × 32kg (Europe–Africa)
- Overweight bag (23–32kg): travellers on London–Nairobi report a fixed £75 per bag — often only confirmed at check-in
- Extra piece: approx. £160 (traveller-reported phone quote)
British Airways
- Free allowance: varies by fare on Kenya routes — some fares 1 × 23kg, others 2; Basic fares none. Check your ticket.
- Overweight bag (23–32kg): £65 per bag, one-way
- Extra piece: no fixed published price — route-based via BA's calculator, roughly £75–£150+ long-haul, cheaper online than at the airport
Qatar Airways
- Free allowance (Africa, piece concept): Lite 1 × 23kg · Classic/Convenience/Comfort 2 × 23kg
- Extra piece (Africa table, airport): USD 130 up to 23kg · USD 205 up to 32kg
- Overweight (23–32kg): USD 75 · online 6+ hrs before departure is discounted
Emirates
- Free allowance (Africa, piece concept): Economy 1–2 × 23kg by fare · Business/First 2 × 32kg
- Extra piece (Africa–Europe, airport): USD 250 · up to 50% off first extra piece online (Economy)
- Overweight USD 75 · Oversized USD 175 · Both USD 250
The fee nobody warns you about: JKIA customs on arrival
Paying the airline gets your bags on the plane. It does not get them past KRA.
Every bag on an international arrival at JKIA is scanned. Flagged bags are pulled for inspection. Under the East African Community Customs Management Act, here's what's dutiable when you land:
Used personal effects
Duty-free. Your worn clothes, your own laptop — fine.
New items for your own use
Duty-free only up to KRA's current threshold — raised to KSh 250,000 in 2025, with further increases reported since. Above the threshold: import duty, VAT and levies, assessed on the spot. Thresholds change — check KRA guidance before you fly.
Gifts & items for someone else
Dutiable — explicitly. KRA's own passenger guidance lists "items you brought home for someone else, including gifts" as declarable. The new phone for your brother isn't a personal effect in KRA's eyes.
Commercial quantities
Dutiable regardless of value.
Duty is calculated at the desk, after a nine-hour flight, and paid via M-Pesa or card before you leave the hall. The unpredictability of this process has been controversial enough that a parliamentary committee publicly criticised KRA's handling of arriving passengers, and Kenya's government responded by raising the duty-free threshold and putting body cameras on customs officers. Full rules: KRA Passenger Terminal FAQs.
When you ship with Triple A, KRA customs clearance is included in your rate — handled by Azaanex, our own KRA-licensed clearance team in Kenya. Your shipment is cleared as freight by our own Kenya-side team, with KRA clearance and duty included in your quote — no arrival-hall assessment, no on-the-spot negotiation, no surprise M-Pesa payment while your family waits outside.
Sending a phone? Carried through JKIA as a boxed gift, a new phone can be assessed for value-based duty at the desk. Shipped with Triple A: £6.99/kg + a flat £25 handling fee (flat lithium-battery handling fee for phones, laptops, tablets and power banks) — duty and clearance included, delivered in 3 business days. One known price, before you fly.
When the airline is actually fine — and when shipping wins
We'd rather tell you the truth than win every comparison.
Pay the airline when: you're only 1–2kg over on a single bag (repack, or pay the overweight fee — BA's £65 is hard to beat if the bag must fly with you), you need the items the moment you land, or it's all used personal effects well under the customs threshold.
Ship with Triple A when:
You have multiple extra bags. A third and fourth piece compound brutally: two extra pieces on Emirates can run ~$500 at the airport; the same 46kg with Triple A is £321.54, with clearance included.
You're a few kilos over on more than one bag. Airlines charge overweight per bag — 5kg over on two bags is two £65–£75 fees (£130–£150). With us, 10kg is £69.90.
Anything weighs over 32kg. The airlines will refuse it outright. Freight is the only option — and it's ours by design, not as a fallback.
You're carrying gifts, new items, or anything for someone else. The airline fee is only half the cost — JKIA duty is the other half. Our rate includes clearance.
It's stock or commercial goods. BA's own policy says this belongs in cargo, not checked baggage.
You want a known price before travel day. Message us on WhatsApp a week before you fly. No check-in roulette.
| Situation | Airline | Triple A |
|---|---|---|
| Need it on arrival, same day | ✅ Best option | ✗ (3 business days) |
| 1–2kg over, one bag | ✅ Often fine | Possible, usually unnecessary |
| Multiple extra bags | Expensive, no uplift guarantee | ✅ Strong fit |
| Bags/boxes over 32kg | ❌ Refused | ✅ Only option |
| Gifts & new items for family | Fee + JKIA duty on arrival | ✅ Duty & clearance included |
| Business stock | Against airline rules | ✅ Built for it |
| Price certainty before travel | Discovered at check-in | ✅ WhatsApp quote in minutes |
| Door delivery in Kenya | Not offered | ✅ Optional extra |
| Tracking updates | No | ✅ Live WhatsApp updates |
Flying to Kenya with extra luggage? Ship it separately.
Send extra bags, boxes, clothes, shoes, gifts, shopping and personal effects from the UK to Kenya — without waiting until airport check-in to find out the cost.
£6.99/kg air freight · minimum 1kg
How it works — Southall to Nairobi
Message us on WhatsApp
Send the word "BAGGAGE" — how many bags/boxes, roughly what's inside, rough weight (bathroom scales are fine).
Get your quote in minutes
One clear freight-and-clearance price before travel. Nairobi included; UK collection and Kenya door delivery available as optional extras. No airport surprises.
Drop off at Southall
Or book UK collection. Cut-off: midday Friday for that week's dispatch — anything after goes on the following Friday.
We dispatch Friday
Consolidated, screened and on that week's air freight.
Azaanex clears it through KRA
Duty and clearance already covered in your rate.
Collect in Nairobi — or add door delivery
Photo confirmation on arrival, live WhatsApp updates throughout.
What travellers send with us: suitcases and holdalls, boxed gifts, clothes and shoes, wedding and event items, baby items, phones and electronics, students' belongings, shopping hauls, church and community goods, small business stock.
Shopping before you fly? Use our Southall warehouse as your UK delivery address when shopping from any retailer — whether you're buying everyday essentials, online shopping from Amazon, eBay, or ASOS, or ordering for Christmas, Eid, Black Friday, Boxing Day, Ramadan, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Valentine's Day, or back-to-school season. It all consolidates into the same Friday dispatch.
Moving home for good? Returning residents may qualify for KRA duty exemptions on household goods — see our Returning Resident guide before you ship.
Before you pack: vapes/e-cigarettes cannot be shipped. Sending commercial quantities or special-category goods? Tell us on WhatsApp first — these are confirmed and quoted before dispatch. Unsure about a restricted item? Ask us — it takes a minute and saves a headache.
FAQs
How much does extra baggage cost per kg to Kenya?
Airlines on the UK–Kenya route mostly don't charge per kg — they charge per piece (roughly £65–£75 for an overweight bag, and anywhere from ~$130 to ~$250 per additional bag depending on the airline and where you buy). Triple A air freight is a straight £6.99/kg with KRA clearance included.
What happens if my luggage is over 23kg?
Between 23kg and 32kg, you'll pay your airline's overweight fee per bag (typically £65–£75 on this route). Over 32kg, no airline will accept the bag as checked baggage at all — it has to go as freight.
How much does Kenya Airways charge for extra luggage?
Travellers on the London–Nairobi route report roughly £160 for an extra piece and £75 per overweight bag (23–32kg) — with the overweight fee often only confirmed at check-in. Always verify with KQ before travel, as published information on this has been hard to find.
Can I split weight between my bags?
Not in the way most people assume. Kenya Airways allows families to pool the number of bags, but every individual bag must still be under its own per-piece limit — 18kg + 26kg fails even though it averages under 23kg.
Will I pay customs at JKIA on things I'm carrying?
Used personal effects are duty-free. New items for your own use are duty-free up to KRA's current threshold (raised to KSh 250,000 in 2025 — thresholds can change, so check KRA guidance before you fly). But gifts and anything you're carrying for someone else are dutiable regardless — KRA lists them explicitly. Shipping with Triple A includes KRA clearance and duty in the rate.
How long does shipping take instead?
3 business days by air, dispatching every Friday from Southall (midday Friday cut-off). Ship a week before you fly and it can be waiting when you land.
Can I send a new phone to Kenya?
Yes — £6.99/kg plus a flat £25 lithium-battery handling fee (applies to phones, laptops, tablets and power banks). Duty and KRA clearance included. Carried through JKIA instead, a new boxed phone can be assessed for value-based duty at the customs desk.
Do you deliver to the door in Kenya?
Yes — Nairobi is included to our depot, and door delivery anywhere in Kenya is available as an optional chargeable extra. Just ask when you get your quote.
Don't let airport baggage stress ruin your journey home.
Weigh it. Quote it. Ship it. Track it on WhatsApp.
💬 WhatsApp "BAGGAGE" → +44 7800 648 660
tripleafreight.co.uk · info@tripleafreight.co.uk
Unit Z01, 8A Canal Yard, Hayes Road, Southall, UB2 5NA
