Kenya Airways Announces Largest Loss in Kenya's Corporate History

Kenya Airways (KQ) has announced a loss of Sh36.2 billion, the largest by a corporate in the country’s history.

The loss in the year ended December 31st, 2020, which is nearly threefold the Sh13 billion loss recorded a year earlier, is largely attributed to the collapse of the airline’s operations in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic-related disruptions.

The national carrier’s cumulative revenues in the year under review dropped by 59 percent to Sh52.8 billion from Sh128.3 billion in 2019 while passenger income declined by Sh69.9 billion following the grounding of flights for five months in 2020.

During the period, the airline ferried 1.8 million passengers compared to 5.2 million in the previous year.

However, KQ reduced its overall costs by 38.5 percent from Sh141.3 billion in 2019 to Sh89.4 billion, including Sh22.6 billion in savings from fuel, Sh27.4 billion in navigation and landing fees, and Sh3.4 billion in employee cost savings.

“2020 was the worst year for aviation. We however did well and kept going once the grounding of flights ceased,” said Kenya Airways Chairman Michael Joseph.

He added: “It is unfortunate that we do not see a recovery to pre-pandemic levels this year or in the next.” 

KQ Chief Executive Officer Allan Kilavuka said, “The difference between COVID-19 and other crises is that we were completely grounded.” 

“We would have liked to deliver a much better result today but we are taking the right steps on cash-conservation and de-risking. Without government support, it will be extremely difficult to survive. We are however doing our best to keep the airline going,” added Kilavuka.