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Kenya Airways had been severely affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic over the past six months, with a recorded loss of around $ 132 million from flight disruptions that caused aircraft to stop.
The airline’s management said last weekend that passenger numbers fell 55.5% to 1.1 million compared to 2.4 million during the same period last year, hurting revenue.
“Operations were severely affected by the COVID-19 crisis, leading to depressed mid-year results,” said Kenya Airways President Michael Joseph.
“Network activity from April to June was minimal due to travel restrictions and closures, which effectively reduced operations to almost zero to connect our local market with key cities,” said Michael in Nairobi.
The half-year loss is greater than the annual losses the airline has been recording for the past three years, he said.
Comparatively, the airline posted a net loss of Kenyan shillings 12.99 billion ($ 120 million) last year, up from 7.55 billion Kenyan shillings ($ 70 million) in 2018, while the net loss of 2017 was 10.21 billion Kenyan shillings ($ 94 million) from a record high. net loss of 26.2 billion Kenyan shillings ($ 242 million) in 2016, respectively.
The airline president said there is a grim outlook for the rest of the year despite the resumption of domestic and international flights.
“2020 results will be significantly negatively affected due to the projected demand for suppressed air travel. We project that demand will remain at less than 50 percent of 2019 for the remainder of the year, ”added Joseph.
Kenya reported its first COVID-19 case on March 13, prompting the government to suspend domestic and international flights for the entire reporting period.
The airline has been forced to lay off its staff and massive pay cuts to reduce pressure on its operations.
Various other steps have been taken to bail out the airline, including a loan moratorium, deferred rents, vendor payment plans, and also partially deferred staff salaries.
The company has also seized opportunities to increase revenue through freight freight and passenger repatriation flights.
Domestic and international flights returned in July and August, respectively, but KQ’s outlook for the rest of the year remains dismal.
Ranked as the leading airline in East Africa and Central Africa with an extensive network in Africa, Kenya Airways also faces reduced demand in the passenger business and higher costs due to the stricter health and safety measures taken by the Kenyan government to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. .
